2011 State of the Industry Report: Environmental Services

Clean Hospitals President Alexandra Peters, PhD, explains how training, meaningful support, and stronger collaboration with infection prevention teams can empower environmental services staff and strengthen patient safety.

For International Infection Prevention Week, Infection Control Today explores how prevention connects hospital departments with everyday community life and why infection preventionists (IPs), sterile processing department (SPD), professionals, and environmental services (EVS) teams deserve lasting support.

This week in infection prevention: Kenya's imported Ebola case showed how fever screening can miss an ill traveler, Florida's dengue outbreak reached 296 local cases, and new guidance underscores that missed surfaces and shared equipment fuel AMR risk. Our weekly roundup covers these stories and more.

Doe Kley, MPH, RN, T-CHEST, LTC-CIP, CIC, discusses how environmental hygiene supports efforts to contain antimicrobial resistance, examining disinfectant efficacy, dilution failures, shared equipment, and the partnership between infection prevention and environmental services teams.

This week's coverage in Infection Control Today centered on a common thread: the systems, partnerships, and data that let infection prevention teams catch problems before patients are harmed.

UPMC’s genomic surveillance initiative earned national recognition for patient safety. Alexander Sundermann, DrPH, CIC, FAPIC, AL-CIP, explains how the award could help infection preventionists secure leadership support and sustainable funding for earlier outbreak detection.

Knowing the protocol is only the beginning. In The Clean Bite, Sherrie Busby explores how explaining the why, addressing staff concerns, and creating clear procedures can help dental teams make infection control part of everyday practice.

What might infection prevention rounds miss when visible conditions dominate the conversation? Tommy Davis, PhD, CMIP, a member of ICT's executive advisory board, makes the case for structured observations of clinical workflows, shared accountability, and greater attention to environmental services staff’s insights.