Iris Verdi is the director of strategic accounts for healthcare at KBS and brings over 25 years of experience in environmental services leadership and hospital operations. She serves as the ISSA State Advocacy Leader for Delaware and sits on multiple national committees focused on health care cleanliness, compliance, and sustainability.
Hospitals often champion high-reliability principles, yet overlook one of their most risk-sensitive disciplines: environmental services. EVS operates in clinical environments where a single missed step can trigger pathogen transmission, regulatory failure, or patient harm. True high reliability is impossible without recognizing EVS as a core contamination-control and patient-safety function.
Hidden in plain sight, cubicle curtains are among healthcare’s most-touched—and least regulated—surfaces. Vague “change when soiled” guidance leaves dangerous gaps, as dusty mesh headers and inconsistent replacement cycles quietly seed transmission, underscoring the need for quarterly, trackable swaps and evidence-based standards.
In this installment of Building Bridges in Infection Prevention, what a mattress mistake can cost both patient and facility.
Inconsistent cleaning practices continue to jeopardize patient safety. Experts urge health care leaders to treat cleaning as clinical care—essential, standardized, and foundational to infection prevention.
Health care-associated infections are driving a shift toward disposable microfiber cloths, mop pads, and curtains—offering infection prevention, regulatory compliance, and operational efficiency in one-time-use solutions.
