Association for the Health Care Environment (AHE) Exchange

Environmental hygiene is about more than just shiny surfaces. At Exchange25, infection prevention experts urged the field to look deeper, rethink blame, and validate cleaning efforts across the entire care environment, not just EVS tasks.

Hospitals may rely on handwashing as a frontline defense against infection, but the very sinks meant to promote hygiene can harbor dangerous pathogens. At this year’s AHE Exchange Summit, microbiologist Mark Wiencek, PhD, T-CHEST, explores how biofilms in sink drains create a persistent threat to patient safety—and what infection prevention and EVS teams can do about it.

Infection prevention is everyone’s responsibility, but environmental services (EVS) professionals are often overlooked. At AHE’s Exchange25, Shannon Simmons, DHSc, is on a mission to change that.

The Association for the Health Care Environment (AHE) is set to host its largest event of the year—Exchange Summit 2025—from June 8 to 11 in Columbus, Ohio. With over 600 environmental services (EVS) professionals expected to attend, this year’s conference focuses heavily on infection prevention, interdepartmental collaboration, and education that empowers frontline health care support leaders to improve patient safety and operational efficiency.

Take 5 minutes to catch up on Infection Control Today®’s highlights for the week ending September 24, 2023.

Doe Kley, MPH, RN, T-CHEST, LTC-CIP, CIC, speaks to Infection Control Today about her presentation and other exceptional presentations at the Association for the Health Care Environment (AHE) Exchange Conference & Solution Center

The AHE Exchange Conference in Dallas focused on emerging pathogens and the role of environmental services. Doe Kley, MPH, RN, T-CHEST, LTC-CIP, CIC, discusses hers and other exceptional presentations with Infection Control Today.

Health care environmental professionals met in Dallas, Texas, from July 31 to August 2, 2023, at the AHE Exchange Conference & Solution Center. Infection Control Today® asked Rock Jensen, AHE advisory board chair and administrative director of support services for Yuma Regional Medical Center in Arizona, about AHE’s areas of emphasis for leadership in environmental services (EVS).

The best disinfectant needs to be fast-acting and remain wet for the entire contact time in a single application. What else is required?

Any decrease in the devastation of Clostridioides difficile is welcomed, but an investigative team brought the numbers down by 50%. See what control measures they used.

The method used to determine costs and expenses in environmental services (EVS) in hospitals is often flawed because many times the individuals creating the standards have never worked in EVS. AHE is addressing this problem.

The Association for Health Care Environment (AHE) annual conference brings together those individuals passionate about environmental hygiene. Rock Jensen, the AHE president for the board of advisors, describes to ICT® the goals of this year's conference.