The First Facility Management Blog

For the protection of frontline healthcare and emergency medical workers at high risk of infection, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a compliance directive to ensure uniform procedures when conducting inspections to identify and minimize or eliminate high to very high risk occupational exposures to the 2009 H1N1 influenza A virus.

The directive closely follows the Centers for Disease Control’s guidance.

“OSHA has a responsibility to ensure that the more than nine million frontline healthcare workers in the United States are protected to the extent possible against exposure to the virus,” said acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Jordan Barab. “OSHA will ensure healthcare employers use proper controls to protect all workers, particularly those who are at high or very high risk of exposure.”

In response to complaints, OSHA inspectors will ensure that healthcare employers implement a hierarchy of controls and encourage vaccination and other work practices recommended by the CDC. Where respirators are required to be used, the OSHA Respiratory Protection standard must be followed, including worker training and fit testing. The directive also applies to institutional settings where some workers may have similar exposures, such as schools and correctional facilities.

The CDC recommends the use of respiratory protection that is at least as protective as a fit tested disposable N95 respirator for healthcare personnel who are in close contact (within 6′) with patients who have suspected or confirmed 2009 H1N1 influenza. Where respirators are not commercially available, an employer will be considered to be in compliance if the employer can show a good faith effort has been made to acquire respirators.

Where OSHA inspectors determine that a facility has not violated any OSHA requirements but that additional measures could enhance the protection of employees, OSHA may provide the employer with a hazard alert letter outlining suggested measures to further protect workers.

The 2009 H1N1 influenza is transmitted via direct or indirect person-to-person spreading of infectious droplets passed when an influenza patient coughs, sneezes, talks, or breathes. Transmission occurs when expelled infectious droplets or particles make direct or indirect contact with the mucus membranes of the mouth, nose or eyes of an uninfected person. The OSHA directive and other guidelines show steps to eliminate the hazard.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, OSHA’s role is to promote safe and healthful working conditions for America’s men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, outreach and education.

The AEDG for Small Hospitals and Healthcare Facilities is the sixth in the 30% Advanced Energy Design Guide (AEDG) series designed to provide recommendations for achieving 30% energy savings over the minimum code requirements of ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-1999.

“The recommendations in the Small Hospitals and Healthcare Facilities Guide provide good design practices for integrating energy efficiency in a healthcare environment, while maintaining indoor air quality and required airflow and pressurization relationships,” Shanti Pless, chair of committee that wrote the guide, said.

The Guide focuses on small healthcare facilities up to 90,000 square feet in size, including acute care facilities, outpatient surgery centers, critical access hospitals, and inpatient community hospitals. These buildings have intensive heating and cooling systems, which the Guide covers extensively; additionally, other important energy saving measures such as daylighting are included.

“The energy efficiency recommendations in the Guide were developed based on design experiences from members of a project committee made up of healthcare facilities design professionals, combined with the insight gained from modeling the energy performance of these specific recommendations,” Pless said.

Some tips that the Guide offers include:

• Providing an unoccupied air flow and temperature setback for spaces that are not used 24 hours a day, such as surgery suites;
• Installing high efficiency condensing boilers with an outdoor air temperature reset schedule for all climate zones to address the high amounts of reheat energy used by such facilities to control humidity;
• Carefully laying out lighting design to meet recommended lighting power density by space type;
• Maximizing the use of daylighting and daylighting-responsive controls through both side lighting and top lighting strategies in all space types that do not have air change requirements;
• Installing an insulated thermal envelope, with additional recommendations to address air barriers and continuous insulation strategies.

The recommendations allow contractors, consulting engineers, architects, and designers to achieve advanced levels of energy savings easily without having to resort to detailed calculations or analyses.

Also, case studies provide examples of advanced hospital and healthcare facility designs that demonstrate the flexibility offered in achieving advanced energy savings such as the 30% goal of the Guide.

The AEDG series has been developed in collaboration with these partnering organizations: ASHRAE, the American Institute of Architects (AIA), the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES), the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Since the Guides first began to be offered in early 2008, more than 200,000 have been downloaded. Other books in the series deal with small office and retail buildings, K-12 school buildings, highway lodging and small warehouse and self storage buildings.

For a free copy of the latest AEDG, send an e-mail to tfm@groupc.com with the words “AEDG Healthcare” in the subject line. For other versions of these guides, visit www.ashrae.org/freeaedg.

For the protection of frontline healthcare and emergency medical workers at high risk of infection, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued a compliance directive earlier this week to ensure uniform procedures when conducting inspections to identify and minimize or eliminate high to very high risk occupational exposures to the 2009 H1N1 influenza A virus.The directive, which closely follows the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) guidance, is available as a PDF.

“OSHA has a responsibility to ensure that the more than nine million frontline healthcare workers in the United States are protected to the extent possible against exposure to the virus,” said acting Assistant Secretary of Labor for OSHA Jordan Barab. “OSHA will ensure healthcare employers use proper controls to protect all workers, particularly those who are at high or very high risk of exposure.”

In response to complaints, OSHA inspectors will ensure that healthcare employers implement a hierarchy of controls, and encourage vaccination and other work practices recommended by the CDC. Where respirators are required to be used, the OSHA Respiratory Protection standard must be followed, including worker training and fit testing. The directive also applies to institutional settings where some workers may have similar exposures, such as schools and correctional facilities.

The CDC recommends the use of respiratory protection that is at least as protective as a fit-tested disposable N95 respirator for healthcare personnel who are in close contact (within six feet) with patients who have suspected or confirmed 2009 H1N1 influenza.

Where respirators are not commercially available, an employer will be considered to be in compliance if the employer can show a good faith effort has been made to acquire respirators.

Where OSHA inspectors determine that a facility has not violated any OSHA requirements but that additional measures could enhance the protection of employees, OSHA may provide the employer with a hazard alert letter outlining suggested measures to protect workers further.

The 2009 H1N1 influenza is transmitted via direct or indirect person-to-person spreading of infectious droplets passed when an influenza patient coughs, sneezes, talks, or breathes. Transmission occurs when expelled infectious droplets or particles make direct or indirect contact with the mucus membranes of the mouth, nose, or eyes of an uninfected person. The OSHA directive and other guidelines show steps to eliminate the hazard.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, OSHA’s role is to promote safe and healthful working conditions for America’s men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, outreach and education.

In the midst of the vigorous national health care debate, and at a time of heightened economic insecurity, new data on employers shows that the health of employed American workers is trending downward in a number of important areas. The State of Health in the American Workforce, a report released earlier this week by the Families and Work Institute (FWI), finds that only 28% of employees today report that their overall health is “excellent,” down from 34% just six years ago.

Perhaps surprisingly, men’s overall health has declined more rapidly than women’s. The report also sheds light on the relationship between an effective workplace and employee health, underlining the significant role that employers play beyond providing health insurance and wellness programs.

Among its many findings, the report reveals:

• 41% of employees report experiencing three or more indicators of stress sometimes, often or very often;
• One in three employees experiences one or more symptoms of clinical depression;
• One in five employees has trouble falling asleep very often or fairly often and 31% awaken too early and have trouble falling back to sleep, also very often or fairly often; and
• 21% are receiving treatment for high blood pressure and 14% are being treated for high cholesterol.

Furthermore, the report finds that nearly half of U.S. employees (49%) have not engaged in regular physical exercise in the last 30 days, including 22% not engaging in any rigorous physical exercise. And despite a push to stop smoking at the workplace, one in four smokes.

In terms of health care coverage, 24% of low-wage/low-income employees have no insurance from their employers or any other source, compared with only 5% of middle- and high-income employees. Low-wage/low-income employees are also much less likely to receive at least five paid sick days—only 46% do compared with 66% of middle- and high-wage and -income employees.

As to whether having an effective workplace makes a difference for employee health and well-being, the FWI data suggest that the answer is “yes”—and wage level and gender also influence in what way. For example, FWI finds that 38% of employees in workplaces that fall into the “high overall effectiveness” category (based on six measurable criteria that include economic security, autonomy, work-life fit) report “excellent overall health.” By contrast, only 19% of employees in workplaces that fall into the “low overall effectiveness” category report “excellent overall health.”

“Few would disagree that the health care path we are on represents an untenable route to increasing costs and diminishing returns,” said Ellen Galinsky, co-founder and president of FWI. ““This new report is replete with evidence that several key measures of employee health are declining, and that employer policies fostering employee engagement and satisfaction are also associated with better employee health. The message is clear that beyond any reform measures on the table in Washington, it is urgent for employers and employees to pay attention to how they can promote better health, which ultimately will save money.”

The new report is based on data from FWI’s 2008 National Study of the Changing Workforce (NSCW), the only study of its kind to provide 30+ year comparisons (from 1977 to 2008) of life on and off the job. The New State of Health in the American Workforce report focuses on 2002 and 2008 data.

Among the other noteworthy findings of the report:

Employees’ physical and mental health, stress levels, sleep quality, and energy levels all significantly impact important work outcomes of interest to employers, such as engagement, turnover intent, and job satisfaction. Thirty-five percent of employees who rate their current overall health as excellent are highly engaged in their jobs, compared with only 25%, 22%, and 23% of employees who rate their overall health as good, fair, or poor, respectively.

Despite the prevalence of employer health insurance programs, 8% of employees in fact have no health insurance. Nearly two-thirds (66%) of U.S employees are covered by health insurance offered by their employers. Of the balance, 26% choose to access health insurance from another source (e.g., a spouse’s employer), but 8% of employees have no health insurance from either their employer or from another source.

Income level makes a difference. Low-wage/low-income employees are less likely to have access to employer health insurance. They are also less likely to use it, if it is available, and they are less likely to be covered by another source. Sixty-six percent of low-wage/low-income employees have access to an employer health plan compared with 88% of middle- and high-wage and -income employees.

Employees who receive at least five paid days off per year for personal illness report significantly better work and health/well-being outcomes. Fifty-six percent of employees with at least five paid days off for personal illness report high job satisfaction compared to 49% with less than five days off. Within the five-plus day group, 71% report no signs of depression, versus 61% of those with less than five days off.

Having paid vacations bode well for personal health and well-being, as well as intent to stay in one’s job—and longer vacations offer greater benefits than shorter ones. Seventy-nine percent of employees have access to paid vacations with an average yearly time off of 16 days. However, 39% of employees don’t use all of their vacation time and 24% take five or fewer days for longest vacation. Eighty-two percent of employees with 13+ paid vacation days say they are “not at all likely to leave their jobs” compared to 68% with 6-12 vacation days.

Building upon other studies stemming from the 2008 NSCW data, FWI’s State of Health in the American Workforce report also explores various components of effective workplaces and what impact they have on employee health. Among the interesting findings: being treated with respect by managers and supervisors has a stronger effect on the mental health of low-wage/low-income employees than middle- or high-wage and -income employees, and men are more positively affected by having economic security in their jobs and a good fit between their work and personal or family lives, while women are more positively affected by being challenged in their jobs and by having autonomy.

“In the daily grind of our busy lives, it’s easy to forget the price we eventually pay when we fall short on important things like sleep, diet, or exercise,” said FWI Senior Research Associate and report co-author, Kerstin Aumann. “This report demonstrates how our workplaces—where we often spend most of our waking hours—can help or hinder our personal well-being and health. Our findings serve as a wake-up calls for employers and employees alike to take a closer look at how their organizations affect people’s health and well-being.

For a PDF of the report, send an e-mail to tfm@groupc.com with the words “Health and Workforce” in the subject line of your correspondence. To take a quiz to evaluate how well your work and life fit together, click this link.

A new U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) report, Report of the Task Group for Innovative 21st Century Building Environments for VA Healthcare Delivery, prepared by the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS) could help the federal agency move its healthcare facilities into the 21st century. The task group concludes, “VA is in a position to transform and lead healthcare delivery into a completely new and revolutionary force within our society.”

In 2008, officials at the VA asked NIBS to coordinate the organization’s exploration for a new paradigm to provide a new generation of high-performance, sustainable healthcare environments for the changing population of veterans. The Institute convened a multi-disciplinary task group to investigate and document state-of-the-art practices for flexible healing environments.

Made up of of more than 25 architects, engineers, hospital administrators, healthcare professionals, and other renowned experts in the healthcare industry, the task group worked with a VA advisory group that provided data and information on the current practices of VA operations and facilities. The task group developed five principal conclusions with supporting recommendations applicable to transforming new and renovated healthcare facilities. If implemented, these recommendations would provide the VA with a model that is paramount to the future success of veteran healthcare delivery and without precedent in the U.S. healthcare industry.

A pdf of the executive summary of the report is available for free download here: Executive Summary. To request pdfs of the full report (which is available in two sections), send an e-mail to tfm@groupc.com with the words VA Healthcare Report in the subject line of your correspondence.

McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. of Newport Beach, CA recently completed reconstruction of the Ronald McDonald House Family Room inside Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) at Mission Hospital. Approximately $225,000 in construction work and materials was donated by McCarthy and numerous other companies to complete the 852-square-foot remodel.

The renovated Family Room includes a windowfront sitting area.

CHOC Children’s at Mission Hospital is housed in a state-of-the-art medical facility on the 5th floor of Mission Hospital’s patient care tower. While it operates as a separately licensed pediatric facility with its own medical staff, CHOC Children’s at Mission Hospital is linked to Mission Hospital’s regional trauma center, high-level obstetric and perinatal program, and ancillary services. The 48-bed “children’s hospital-within-a-hospital” is part of CHOC Children’s regional healthcare network and serves as the only dedicated pediatric health care center for families in the communities throughout South Orange County, coastal areas and North San Diego.

Donated Time And Materials
The project, which began on August 25, 2008, included demolition and reconstruction of two sleep rooms, a kitchen area, and family room. Contractors gutted the space and installed new lighting, drywall, carpeting, ceiling tile, casework, and paint. Construction was completed earlier this month, and the renovated space was then furnished with new chairs, couches, lamps, toys, books, artwork, and an existing 42 inch flat panel television.

McCarthy Building Companies also donated two new computers for volunteer and visitor use.

With architectural design by RBB Architects Inc. of Los Angeles and interior design provided by Correy Design Group of Huntington Beach, the renovated Family Room predominantly features wood cabinetry that divides the space into different areas for volunteer activity, dining, watching television, computer use, relaxation, and children’s activities.

Two remodeled sleep rooms, a kitchen, and bathroom with a shower are located adjacent to the main family room. The kitchen and bath areas were updated with matching wood cabinetry, new countertops, sink fixtures, lighting, and appliances.

The new Family Room is a place for patients' family members.

“Parents simply can’t be in their child’s hospital room all of the time,” said Deborah Levy, Orange County Ronald McDonald House executive director. “The Ronald McDonald Family Room makes all the difference in coping with what otherwise could have been an unbearable experience. The design of the new Family Room now functions more effectively and provides crucial amenities for parents to nap, shower, grab a bite to eat, yet still be down the hall from their hospitalized child.”

Spearheaded by McCarthy I.S. Engineer Ray LaTour, McCarthy volunteers helped with the project through the McCarthy Heart Hats, a volunteer community outreach group which enables the company’s employees to dedicate time and resources to community involvement on paid workdays. Through its relationship with subcontractors and vendors, McCarthy was also able to secure additional volunteers and donations from companies such as Appolo Electric, ISEC Inc., PCI, Martin Integrated, Hasson Inc., Johnson and Turner Painting, Premier Tile, and Minka Group. RBB architects, KPFF Engineering, and Correy Design group also donated services for this project.

Ronald McDonald House additionally received donations for carpet and installation services from Shaw Carpet and Universal Flooring.

All of the audio visual and sound equipment were donated and installed by Genesis Audio.

“We could not have done this renovation project without the support of McCarthy Building Companies,” said Levy. “McCarthy took the leadership role in securing thousands of dollars worth of donations for the project. They also helped guide us through the complex process of building something inside of a hospital and were true miracle workers! McCarthy Building Companies will leave a lasting legacy on thousands of families they will never meet who will utilize the Ronald McDonald Family Room inside of CHOC Children’s at Mission Hospital.”

Since 2006, McCarthy’s Heart Hats have provided construction and other services and donations to six Ronald McDonald Houses or facilities in California. “Ronald McDonald House is a charity close to our hearts,” said LaTour. “McCarthy builds many children’s hospitals and some of the children of our employees have experienced first-hand the wonderful and caring services these hospitals provide. We hope our most recent efforts remodeling the new Ronald McDonald Family Room inside of CHOC Children’s at Mission Hospital will help ease the daily tribulations and struggles of families with seriously ill children.”

A report released today from The Joint Commission offers guiding principles and actions for the hospital of the future to meet the challenges of older and sicker patients, patient safety and quality of care, economics, and the work force. As these challenges evolve, hospitals can lead the effort to meet these demands.
 
Health Care at the Crossroads: Guiding Principles for the Development of the Hospital of the Future contends that hospitals must respond in new ways as escalating health care costs are hitting record highs and the conditions and care needs of hospitalized patients are growing more complex. The report is the work of a panel comprising hospital executives and clinical leaders, as well as experts in technology, health care economics, hospital design, and patient safety. The roundtable analyzed how socioeconomic trends, technology, the physical environment of care, patient centered care values, and ongoing staffing challenges will impact the hospital of the future.
 
“The importance of hospital based care will not diminish in the future, but hospitals will have to meet the high expectations of the public and all stakeholders in an increasingly challenging environment,” says Mark R. Chassin, M.D., M.P.P., M.P.H., president, The Joint Commission. “As they have been in the past, hospitals must be equally transformative as the future unfolds. The Joint Commission urges hospitals and public policymakers to use the principles in this report to achieve that aim.”
 
“The Joint Commission has brought together broad expertise in health care to point to directions for optimizing health care in hospitals. Hospitals have an enduring role in the delivery of health care and have provided major contributions to enhancing the treatment of disease,” says Herbert Pardes, M.D., president and CEO, New York Presbyterian Hospital and New York Presbyterian Healthcare System and roundtable chair. “Looking forward, this report describes issues ranging from technology to personnel, patient relationships, and fiscal and architectural design among many other ways hospitals can enhance health care for all patients.”
 
The report recommends action in five core areas:

Economic Viability
While some hospitals today enjoy healthy profit margins, many hospitals continue to be unprofitable. There is a growing gap between the have and have not hospitals. An aging population and a continuing decline in employer sponsored insurance means that hospitals can expect increases in publicly insured patients and uncompensated care. This is expected to create more competition for the fewer patients to whom costs may be shifted. For hospitals to be economically viable in the future, the following principles must be pursued by hospitals, health care stakeholders, and policymakers:

• Align performance and payment systems to meet quality and efficiency related goals
• Use process improvement tools to increase efficiency and reduce costs
• Pursue coverage options to ensure patient access to, and affordability of, health care services
• Address how general acute hospitals and specialty hospitals can both fulfill the social mission for health care delivery

Technology Adoption
Information technology plays a major role in improving health care quality and safety, and can help support the migration of hospital based care into the community and even the home. The technological transformation of health care also invites the redefinition of the hospital, according to the report. To address technology in the hospital of the future, the expert roundtable suggests the following:

• Make the business case and sustainable funding to support the widespread adoption of health information technology
• Redesign business and care processes in tandem with health information technology adoption
• Use digital technology to support patient centered hospital care and extend that care beyond the hospital walls
• Establish reliable authorities to provide technology assessment and technology investment guidance for hospitals
• Adopt technologies that are labor saving and integrative across the hospital

• Make adoption of patient centered care values a priority for improving patient safety and patient and staff satisfaction
• Incorporate patient centered care principles into the activities of hospital oversight bodies and transparency initiatives
• Address barriers to patient and family engagement, such as low health literacy and personal and cultural preferences 
• Eliminate disparities in the quality of care for minorities, the poor, the aged, and the mentally ill 
• Improve the quality of care for the chronically ill through coordinated, multidisciplinary care
• Use robust process improvement tools to improve quality and safety

Staffing
Work force shortages have persistently plagued hospitals over the last several years. To address the fact that demand for certain health care professionals outstrips supply and to meet the needs of patients in the future, the report makes the following recommendations:

• Establish fair migration and compensation policies for countries facing shortages of health care workers
• Expand health professional education and training capacity to accommodate the growing demand for health care workers
• Create workplace cultures that can attract and retain health care workers
• Develop professional knowledge and skills necessary in a more complex health care environment 
• Educate health professionals to deliver team based care
• Develop the competence of health professionals to care for geriatric patients

Members of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) are concerned about the spread of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureaus (MRSA) infections in the workplace. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 126,000 hospitalizations are related to MRSA each year; and 70% of hospital acquired infections are due to antibiotic resistant bacteria such as MRSA, with MRSA infections being one of the strongest and fastest growing.

According to ASSE professional member Aruna Vadgama, RN, MPA, CSP, CPHQ, CPE, COHN-S, SRN, CHRM, MRSA is a type of staph bacteria that is of concern to hospital staff because it is strongly resistant to methicillin and to other modern antibiotics, but it can be treated with several other available antibiotics. Staph lives on human skin and/or in the nasal area and can cause a wide range of illnesses from minor skin infections to life-threatening diseases. Infection can be spread through contact with pus from an infected wound, skin-to-skin contact, as well as from contact with other objects –as staph can exist on surfaces for up to six hours. In hospitals, people with weakened immune systems are more susceptible to staph infections.

“Good hygiene, particularly regular and thorough hand washing, offers the best protection (against infection),” Vadgama wrote in a recent article entitled, “MRSA Infection Control: Best Practices.” “The key to treating any disease and/or illness is early detection, early diagnosis, proper treatment, and follow up.”

MRSA is not always easy to detect. A person may be colonized by MRSA, meaning he or she is infected and carries the disease but shows no symptoms. Vadgama notes that nasal swabs are a good way to detect MRSA infection in people who do not show symptoms, as staph infections are commonly found in the nasal area.

Currently there are no federal regulations or standards in place for preventing staph and MRSA infection in the workplace. However, Vadgama noted that there are recent “incentive-based” models for infection control being put in place. For example, the Center for Medicare Services (CMS) recently published its Condition of Participation Standards and Pay for Performance Standards, effective in 2008. The Pay for Performance standards ensure that healthcare organizations or providers do not get reimbursed for the care, treatment and services related to a situation where a patient acquired an infection and or had an adverse outcome due to medical error.

“The new requirement has raised awareness at the healthcare leadership level to develop systems to manage adverse outcomes and to control infection,” wrote Vadgama. “Initiatives implemented include screening high-risk patients for MRSA admission. High risk patients may be patients transferred from nursing homes or long-term care environments, the homeless, patients with compromised immune systems, cancer patients, dialysis patients and others with chronic illnesses. Before admitting these patients, precautionary isolation placement has been used in certain cases.”

In addition, there are some new state-based initiatives taking place to reduce infection rates. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed two bills into law that require California hospitals to strengthen their efforts at preventing staph outbreaks and to reveal to the public their rates of infection. The first bill requires hospitals to improve their infection control rules and report infection rates to California officials. The second bill increases the public health department’s surveillance efforts on hospitals and requires hospital doctors and other medical professionals to be trained in preventing the spread of infections. Similar state regulations are being considered in several other states.

The Joint Commission, an independent and not-for-profit organization that accredits and certifies more than 15,000 healthcare organizations and programs in the U.S., is also involved in initiatives to reduce infections in hospitals. Reducing infection rates by hand washing was adopted as a Joint Commission National Patient Safety Goals (NPSG) Standard. The CDC also provides information about both hospital-associated MRSA (HA-MRSA) and community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA) through its National MRSA Educational Initiative. For more information on the CDC MRSA prevention initiative or to learn more about MRSA visit this link.

“Good hand hygiene and overall hygiene are the keys to preventing MRSA and other staph infection,” Vadgama said. Vadgama adds that some best practices to prevent staph infections in hospitals include:
Ask medical history/screening questions;
Wash hands before any task;
Wash equipment;
Cover pus and use gloves to treat infection;
And, encourage staff members who are ill to stay home.

“MRSA can survive on surfaces, equipment and fabrics, including privacy curtains or garments worn by care providers,” said Vadgama. “To prevent the spread of staph or MRSA in the workplace, which includes healthcare environments and general industry, employers should ensure the availability of adequate facilities and supplies that encourage workers to practice good hygiene; that routine housekeeping in the workplace is followed; and that contaminated equipment and surfaces are cleaned with detergent-based cleaners or Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-registered disinfectants. A solution of 70% alcohol is very effective in decontaminating and disinfecting MRSA on surfaces. While using the community gym or if you have a gym at your workplace, each individual should disinfect equipment prior to using it to prevent acquiring infectious diseases including staph and MRSA.”

The company donated sheets of its Corian® material to help create a high-tech gathering place for hospitalized children and teens. The “Lion’s Den,” as the colorful spot is called, is located at Wolfson Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville, FL—the only full-service tertiary hospital for children in Northeast Florida.

The Lion's Den at Wolfson Children's Hospital

Through a partnership with Hockey Hall-of-Famer Pat LaFontaine’s Companions in Courage Foundation, DuPont donated sheets of DuPont™ Corian® for the project. The hospital’s Lion’s Den is custom designed to offer an oasis to help ease a child’s stay. To help achieve the room’s cheerful look, each of the brightly colored panels, chairs, and tables are made entirely from DuPont™ Corian® solid surfaces. 

“We’re dedicated to helping the community in a meaningful way,” said Thomas F. Schuler, vice president and general manager, DuPont Building Innovations. “With Corian®, we not only add a splash of color to the children’s environment, but due to its easy to clean, seamless surface, it also helps hospital staff with infection control, ultimately bettering the care these kids receive.” 

The space offers high-tech diversions for young patients.

The Lion’s Den in the Wolfson Children’s Hospital is one of six nationwide. Outfitted with flat screen TVs, Microsoft® Xbox 360 video games, video teleconferencing, and Internet-ready computers, the rooms provide outlets for children to connect and play with children at other Lion’s Dens, and to chat with loved ones, teachers, and friends across the country.  In addition, kids have the chance to meet national celebrities and sports heroes via videoconferencing arranged by the Companions in Courage Foundation.

“These one-of-a-kind rooms are intended to stimulate hospitalized children and connect them with family, friends and celebrities,” LaFontaine said.  “By introducing technology into the healing process and using innovative materials like Corian®, we are able to provide these children with a colorful place where they can behave and play like normal, healthy kids.”

Corian® meets all 18 preferred characteristics of the ideal surfacing product to help facilitate infection control as defined in the Guidelines for Design and Construction of Health Care Facilities, including being seamless, impact resistant, and having low VOC/no off-gassing.

The Companions in Courage Foundation was founded by NHL Hall-of-Famer Pat LaFontaine as a response to the inspiration he derived while visiting children in hospitals during his 15-year career.  His immediate goal is to build interactive playrooms in children’s hospitals throughout North America.  Through communications tools, these playrooms are meant to mitigate the isolation of a hospital by providing ways to connect to family, friends and celebrities during a child’s hospital stay.   

The DuPont Oval, DuPontTM, The miracles of scienceTM, and Corian® and Zodiaq® are registered trademarks or trademarks of DuPont or its affiliates. Only DuPont makes Corian® and Zodiaq®.  Microsoft™ Xbox 360 is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.