Carolyn Schierhorn, Health Facilities Management
Gundersen Health System, a La Crosse, Wis.-based network of six medical centers and dozens of clinics in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Iowa, has long been recognized for championing environmental sustainability.

Carolyn Schierhorn, Health Facilities Management
Located in Dover, N.H., a county seat of nearly 31,000 people in the state’s southeastern Seacoast Region, 178-bed Wentworth-Douglass Hospital draws its environmental services staff from the surrounding communities, creating a naturally close-knit work culture as a result.

Jeff Lagasse, Healthcare Finance News
Last week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services finalized a rule it said would establish consistent emergency preparedness requirements for healthcare providers participating in Medicare and Medicaid.

Matt Poe, American Laundry News
A recent study showed that microfiber products can help prevent the spread of bacteria, particularly Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

Cynthia North Bay Business Journal
Hospital bacteria, watch out. Incredibly efficient germ zapping robots are winning the fight against deadly hospital acquired infections.

Contagion Live
Nearly a decade ago, 130 Veterans Health Administration (VHA) facilities around the country introduced their methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Preventive Initiative to reduce transmission of the "superbug" in their hospitals and health centers.

Carolyn Stokes, CBC News
Eastern Health plans to use technology to promote hand hygiene in its facilities.

Infection Control Today
ICT asked board members of the Healthcare Laundry Accreditation Council (HLAC) for their perspectives on key issues relating to infection prevention and healthcare textiles management.

Safety.BLR.com
If you’ve invested in hand sanitizers and wipes to try to reduce germs at your site, a new study suggests you may see a significant return in improved worker health.

Infection Control Today
A study published in Nature Microbiology holds promise for a new treatment method against antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Pejman Ghadimi, Business 2 Community
Leadership is simply defined in my book as a person’s investment and ownership in human capital, or people.

Vandana Shivani, Work Happy Now
Leadership has got multiple facets and each and every facet plays a key role in the success of the leader.

Make yourself indispensable and advance your career! Plan your education for 2016. Visit AHE’s brand-new 2016 ENGAGE site to learn more about educational courses, podcasts, webinars, and events.

We need YOU! AHE is gathering input from environmental services departments across the country to identify baseline staffing productivity standards. The results of this data gathering will be used in building staffing models and providing metrics for environmental services directors. You can be a key player in identifying and establishing these important staffing criteria for our industry.

The AHE Seal of Review and Recognition Program is designed to be a comprehensive review and formalized recognition process aimed at assisting healthcare professionals in selecting training and in-service programs that promote quality, safety and the most favorable outcomes for the healthcare environment and its related disciplines.

EXCHANGE 2016 will be held on September 25-28, at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, PA. This year, EXCHANGE attendees can look forward to:
• Certified Healthcare Environmental Services Technician (CHEST) Pre-Conference Workshop
• Certificate of Mastery in Infection Prevention for Environmental Services (CMIP) Pre-Conference Workshop
• Infection Prevention, Environmental Cleaning, Leadership, Sustainability, Outbreaks and other sessions
• Extended Sessions
• Healthcare Marketplace

Celebrate your team during Environmental Services Week, September 11-17, 2016.

AHE has started this initiative to encourage professionals in the field to begin, or continue to refer to the departments and the personnel caring for the healthcare environment as environmental services professionals rather than as housekeepers, janitors and custodians. The staff and management teams responsible for maintaining the clinical environment of care require different skills and competencies from those needed in the commercial cleaning and general maintenance industry and it's time we address this critical distinction.

Please help us redefine healthcare environmental services!

By Sheryl S. Jackson

An interview with Scott Thornton, CHESP, T-CHEST