2015 CHAIR Accomplishments

• CHAIR Canada visited DIRRT (Do It Right This Time) in Calgary who manufacture a very innovative modular wall system for healthcare that includes built in electrical and medical gas systems.
• The Touch Surface Project at Vancouver General Hospital, in which CHAIR is a participant is getting closer to the final approval in March 2015.
• CHAIR Canada Participation at trial at University of Waterloo and Kitchener’s St. Mary’s General Hospital - CHAIR worked with Class 1, the University of Waterloo and Kitchener’s St Mary’s General Hospital, to complete a three-month trial in October using ultraviolet lights in 2 patient washrooms, 1 equipment rooms and 1 soiled linen room to compare differences in microbial loads between these rooms and 4 control rooms without UV lights.
• Contributed (through member participation) to the development of a new CSA infection prevention and control Express Document “Evaluating Emerging Materials and Technologies”.   Members also provided comments to the revised CSA plumbing and HVAC standards.
• Efficacy of an automated ultraviolet C device in a shared hospital bathroom, Lions Gate Hospital, North Vancouver, Journal of Infection Control, 2015.

The ultraviolet C wavelength light system had a mean bacteria reduction of 95% on all surface counters with a specific reduction of 97% on the toilet seat.

Based on this successful data, the Lions Gate Hospital installed 10 UVC units on the fourth-floor medical unit of thirty rooms which were a combination of 2 or 3 patients per room where all patients used shared bathrooms. Seventy patients shared the ten bathrooms where the UVC units were located. Currently, the unit was having a tough time coping with C diff infections and frequently there had been 10 to 14 patients with C diff infections on this unit. After the installation of the 10 UVC lights, the C diff rate dropped to two infections. No other interventions were done at this time.

Articles: Efficacy of an automated ultraviolet C device in a shared hospital bathroom or Efficacy UVC Bathroom Shared Bathroom AJIC August 2016​

Project Role: Project Manager for Product Acquisition and Logistics and Scheduling of Clinical Testing

• This month (February), CSA convened a meeting to open discussion on the scope and principles of a proposed Express document on Emerging Materials and Technologies for Infection Prevention and Control.

• CHAIR Canada has provided significant feedback on the revision of this plumbing standard in the areas of antimicrobial products, hand hygiene sinks, scrub sinks, lavatory sinks, innovative disinfection processes (silver hydrogen peroxide, ozonation, monochloramine), testing and distribution of hot and cold water.

• CHAIR presented “Engineering HAI Reduction” at the Canadian Centre of Healthcare Facilities (CCHF) recent Conference in Toronto “Bridging from Theory to Reality: Putting Patient First”.

• CHAIR reviewed another innovative product called Infonaut that measures the staff compliance rate for hand washing. In real life, when clinical staff get tired of washing their hands over and over and over, they skip the hand washing occasionally or even worse frequently.

• Over 20 CHAIR members.