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Congratulations to Newly Accredited Laundries!
The
Healthcare Laundry Accreditation Council is pleased to announce the
newest accredited laundries:
Guaranty Laundry, Oklahoma City, OK
Paris Companies
DuBois,
PA
Northwest Healthcare Linen, Bellingham, WA
HandCraft Linen Services,
Richmond, VA
(Cofer Road)
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HLAC
to Present at AORN 2010
HLAC will be
presenting its educational session, "Healthcare Textile
Laundering", at the 57th Annual AORN Congress being held in Denver,
Colorado. AORN is The
Association for periOperative Registered Nurses, a national
association committed to improving patient safety in the surgical
setting.
Presentation
objectives will include: learning key factors and protocols in proper
healthcare textile processing, understanding how an accredited laundry
supports infection prevention strategies, and discussing the importance
of validating outsourced laundry providers.
Join us on Thursday, March 18, 8:00 am. Visit
www.aorn.org to learn more.
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"Know Your Scores" Article Reprint Available
American
Laundry News recently reprinted an editorial by Glenn Fosdick, CEO of
The Nebraska Medical Center (which originally appeared in Modern Healthcare),
entitled "Know Your Scores, From Laundry to OR". Mr. Fosdick
discusses the importance of performance measurement and the positive
impact it has on employees, business and the patient. Reprints are
available, contact Kathy Tinker for
information and pricing. Click here to link to the online version of the
editorial.
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The Healthcare Laundry Accreditation Council is an
independent organization committed to supporting the highest industry
standards in processing healthcare textiles.
View or download the Standards at www.hlacnet.org.
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"I am honored and excited to
work so closely with such a high caliber leadership team as we seek to
further grow and strengthen HLAC," says Chairperson Patti
Costello, Executive Director of the American Society for Healthcare
Environmental Services (ASHES), Chicago, Illinois. "The new nomination
application and leadership peer reviews utilized this
year contributed greatly to a rigorous but fair and seamless
selection process. Accreditation, standards and best practices have
never been more important as healthcare professionals come under increased
pressure for improved patient outcomes and increased satisfaction.
Laundries that seek accreditation do so voluntarily and raise the bar
in demonstrating their commitment to healthcare customers and patients
by promoting a culture of excellence and continuous process
improvement," says Costello.
"In 2010, the Board will continue to build on the past success by
strengthening HLAC Standards, delivering a strategic voice to
stakeholders, and creating new support tools for accredited laundries.
"HLAC is blessed to have a board of experienced and knowledgeable
individuals willing to volunteer time and intellectual capital to
advance the mission and vision of HLAC" she says.
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New HLAC Sales Brochure Introduced
"Laundry Accreditation: Excellence in Healthcare
Textile Processing
 HLAC is
pleased to introduce its newest brochure now available for accredited
laundries. This new sales aid highlights the key role an accredited
laundry plays in the customer's supply chain by creating a culture of
operational efficiency, facility cleanliness, knowledgeable employees,
textile processing expertise, and superior quality control monitoring
systems.
The brochure is a perfect tool
for mailings, Linen Week events, trade shows, customer meetings and
more. A laundry logo customizing option is available. Contact Kathy Tinker for
information and pricing.
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Inspector's
Corner
Standard Part I, 5.3:
Standard 5.3.1 states "Provider
personnel must practice hand hygiene after glove removal, after
restroom use, before eating, and when hands become inadvertently
contaminated with blood or other body substances. Standard
5.3.2 states "Employees
responsible for packing, wrapping, storing or transporting clean
textiles shall maintain proper hand hygiene at all times.
[HICPAC Hand Hygiene guideline: 1 A-N]
Healthcare professionals continue to emphasize proper
hand hygiene practices to reduce healthcare acquired infections (HAIs)
in healthcare settings. Proper hand hygiene within the healthcare
laundry is just as important to help protect employees as well as
prevent recontamination of clean textiles before they are delivered
back to the customer.
Currently the FDA acknowledges that 4% of gloves
marketed in the U.S. for healthcare use may have minute
holes, which means employees could be exposed to pathogens that
they can't easily see. Therefore, the best hand hygiene practice for
employees on the soil sort line is to wash with soap and water before
they leave the area and before going on breaks or lunch/dinner. Be
sure appropriate handwashing facilities are available, paying close
attention to easy access for soil sort employees to promote
compliance. Waterless alcohol-based hand sanitizer should be located
throughout the facility to provide an added level of hand hygiene
effectiveness.
Every employee and all visitors should understand
and adhere to all applicable hand hygiene policies. Have
questions? Feel free to contact HLAC, or visit www.cdc.gov/handhygiene.
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