Metrex Celebrates 40 Years of Infection Prevention Excellence

What do you get when you mix a milestone anniversary, a room full of infection preventionists (IPs), and a disinfectant line with staying power? A celebration worth scrubbing in for! At the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology Annual Conference & Expo (APIC) 2025, Infection Control Today (ICT) joined the team from Metrex Research to toast 40 years of innovation, partnership, and seriously effective surface disinfectants.

With laughs, insights, and a few heartfelt reflections, Cheryl Collins, MPH, Senior Marketing Manager, and Sharon Ward-Fore, MS, MT(ASCP), CIC, FAPIC, Clinical Advisor for Metrex, independent infection consultant, and the 2023 ICT Educator of the Year™ award winner, reminded us that infection prevention is hard work, but it’s a whole lot easier when you have the right team in your corner.

ICT: Please tell us about the 40 years of Metrex Research.

Cheryl Collins, MPH: Metrex has been around since 1985, and what started as a high-level disinfectant, one glutaraldehyde product, became a full portfolio of infection prevention solutions, including hand hygiene solutions; instrument processing solutions; environmental hygiene solutions; and, of course, our star, the CaviWipes line of surface disinfectants.

Sharon Ward-Fore, MS, MT(ASCP), CIC, FAPIC: One of the things as an IP that drew me to Metrex when I was not working for them, but I was a user of their products, was the customer support that they provided. For an IP, that is huge. They helped me bring products in, they helped me train, and they helped roll out. They helped educate me, and it made the process that much easier for an IP to take all that off my plate, which in turn helped bring in a great product.

When you’re looking at disinfectant products, it can be kind of mind-blowing because there are so many out there, and Metrex helps simplify the process because the products have universal contact times, broad spectrum of activity targeting the organisms that primarily cause health care–associated infections (HAIs), as well as multidrug-resistant organisms, which is what we worry about now in today’s health care environment. For me, they simplified the whole process and made it easier.

Cheryl Collins, MPH, Senior Marketing Manager (left), and Sharon Ward-Fore, MS, MT(ASCP), CIC, FAPIC, Clinical Advisor for Metrex, independent infection consultant, and the 2023 ICT Educator of the Year™ award winner.

(Image courtesy of author)

ICT: Tell me a little bit more about what separates Metrex from everyone else.

Collins: Metrex has always been dedicated to infection prevention and helping health care professionals in their fight against HAIs. That’s what drives the entire company. That’s what drives our innovation; our partnerships with IPs are so critical to our path forward. They’ve been so important in our history these past several decades. That’s why we make the products we make. That’s why we offer the support we do, because we’re committed to helping IPs do their job and prevent infections.

Ward-Fore: As an IP myself, I see that not many companies would bring an IP in as their clinical adviser, and I think that speaks a lot to the dedication of this company to wrap their heads around what IPs need, and how we can provide that. When we get together, and I talk about what it’s like to be out on the floor, they really listen, and that is valuable. Their goal is to try to make the IP’s job easier. You can see that in how they interact with IPs. When their sales staff go out to do training, they are all in. They’re in to help IPs and help them do the best job they can to achieve the best patient outcomes. And that’s what it’s all about.

ICT: Forty years is a long time. Many companies have come and gone, yet Metrex has stayed the course over the years. What is your secret?

Collins: Listening to IPs [is key], and that’s why we’re here at APIC25. This is our favorite conference of the year. We love meeting our best friends in infection prevention.

Ward-Fore: Cheryl hit the nail on the head: [The answer is] listening to what IPs have to say, so when they’re onsite, they’re having a conversation with them. It’s like, what’s your worst nightmare? What keeps you up at night? What can we do to help you? And that’s important.

Being an IP is not like a 9-to-5 job where you do the same thing day in and day out every day; something different is thrown at you, and you must figure your way out of it. With 24/7 support from their sales team, they also provide access to a database of tested material compatibility and usage [verification]. Also, someone like me is available to help them troubleshoot or discuss IP-to-IP issues, which can sometimes be crucial. Clients find it valuable, so they offer it. It’s like the whole bucket of things that you can see in your toolbox, pull out and use, and help IPs out.

We know the job is hard, so we do what we can from our side of things.

ICT: Speaking of being difficult, what is the biggest challenge for IPs and epidemiologists, and how does Metrex address that challenge?

Ward-Fore: It’s the devices’ instructions for use (IFUs) that are limiting or dictating how these [items] can be cleaned when many facilities are now systemwide, and they’re going for that capacity sourcing for products. So IPs must figure out how to manage a product they are told they must use that doesn’t meet the IFU criteria. It’s a significant problem, and there’s no easy solution to fix it.

Metrex is working on it. Other groups are also working on it. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services are aware of it. The Joint Commission is aware of it, but no one seems to be able to know how to fix it because you’ve got to bring in medical device manufacturers. You’ve got to bring in those technical writers who write those things. You must talk to the Environmental Protection Agency and the US Food and Drug Administration and say, “Hey, this is a problem. This is what is making the lives of IPs very difficult. What do I use when what I have doesn’t meet the IFU?”

Collins: We now offer a comprehensive line of surface disinfectants, featuring multiple chemistries to cater to various IFUs. Sometimes they call for bleach, hydrogen peroxide, or quat/alcohol. We have that for our customers.

ICT: We’re here at APIC 2025. What are you going to take back to headquarters from the discussions that you have with IPs? What are you going to take back to still be here in 40 years?

Collins: We’ll share how valuable it is to have these one-on-one conversations with IPs, to be here in person with them, and to chat with them. We’ll also provide feedback showing that the IPs are really responding to the fact that we have a complete line of products for them, along with additional support resources like our material compatibility database and our sales team ready to offer in-house support whenever needed. Knowing that our customers are responding well to our efforts reassures us that we should continue our efforts.. Metrex may be 40 years old, but we’re just getting started.

Ward-Fore: It’s important that IPs know they don’t have to go it alone. Companies like Metrex are fully committed to supporting them, and they should take advantage of that.