Humber River Hospital Adopts Automated Technology to Streamline Waste Handling, Soiled Linen
Humber River Hospital (HRH) in Toronto, Canada, is implementing TransVacs automated collection system as a lean and clean solution for handling waste, soiled linen and recycling at its new 1.8 million-square-foot acute-care facility. When completed in the fall of 2015, the new Humber River Hospital will be North Americas first fully digital hospital. It will also be a leader in integrating green principles in new hospital construction, resulting in one of North Americas most energy-efficient acute-care facilities.
The TransVac solution fit very well with the lean and green guiding principles we used to design our new hospital, says HRH president and CEO Rueben Devlin. Clean and dirty supplies never cross in the building, enhancing safety and quality of patient care by reducing the potential for cross-contamination and the transmission of infectious diseases. It reduces the unnecessary and inefficient movement of people and material, freeing staff to spend more time with patients. And it lessens our environmental footprint by increasing our recovery of recyclables.
The TransVac system is essentially a large, one-way pneumatic tube system. Using vacuum technology, trash, soiled linen and recyclables are transported from load stations located throughout the hospital directly to back of the house operations. Unlike traditional manual methods of collection and transport, the TransVac system establishes a sealed, dedicated pathway for dirty materials, significantly reducing staff, patient and visitor exposure to airborne pathogens.
By automating these manual processes, we will free up resources that can then be re-directed back into patient care, while supporting a clean and healthy physical environment for everyone patients, staff and physicians, and visitors, Devlin explains.
Source: TransVac
Happy Hand Hygiene Day! Rethinking Glove Use for Safer, Cleaner, and More Ethical Health Care
May 5th 2025Despite their protective role, gloves are often misused in health care settings—undermining hand hygiene, risking patient safety, and worsening environmental impact. Alexandra Peters, PhD, points out that this misuse deserves urgent attention, especially today, World Hand Hygiene Day.
Show, Tell, Teach: Elevating EVS Training Through Cognitive Science and Performance Coaching
April 25th 2025Training EVS workers for hygiene excellence demands more than manuals—it requires active engagement, motor skills coaching, and teach-back techniques to reduce HAIs and improve patient outcomes.
The Rise of Disposable Products in Health Care Cleaning and Linens
April 25th 2025Health 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.
Vet IP Roundtable 2: Infection Control and Biosecurity Challenges in Veterinary Care
March 31st 2025Veterinary IPs highlight critical gaps in cleaning protocols, training, and biosecurity, stressing the urgent need for standardized, animal-specific infection prevention practices across diverse care settings.
Invisible, Indispensable: The Vital Role of AHRQ in Infection Prevention
March 25th 2025With health care systems under strain and infection preventionists being laid off nationwide, a little-known federal agency stands as a last line of defense against preventable patient harm. Yet the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is now facing devastating cuts—threatening decades of progress in patient safety.
