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.

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!

Thomas A. Peck, Health Facilities Management
From meeting HCAHPS standards for room cleanliness and noise to lowering operating expenses as part of a Lean initiative, environmental services (ES) professionals are facing significant challenges.

Jamie Morgan, Health Facilities Management
The American Hospital Association (AHA) this week shared with President-elect Donald Trump its public policy priorities for the new administration.

Eric Frederick, American Laundry News
Managing people is often the most challenging part of running a laundry.

Mark Farnsworth, Healthcare Facilities Today
Thankfully, today’s healthcare facilities know and practice specific cleaning protocols to keep things clean and sanitary to prevent hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) and provide the best patient outcomes

Hooman Noorchashm MD, PhD, philly.com
Most hospitalized patients spend the vast majority of their time in a hospital bed.

Anuja Vaidya, Becker's Infection Control & Clinical Quality
A hospital's infrastructure, including accessibility of antiseptic hand rub dispensers and single-or multi-bed patient rooms, can influence healthcare-associated colonization and infection rates, according to a study in Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control.

Infection Control Today
Americans are split on getting an annual flu shot, with four out of 10 having done so in the past year and around half saying they had already received or were planning to get the vaccine this year, according to new national survey data analyzed by University of Georgia researchers.

Infection Control Today
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) emphasizes that handwashing is easy to do and it's one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of many types of infection and illness in all settings—from the home and workplace, to childcare facilities and hospitals.

Healthcare Facilities Today
Research submitted by Indian doctors states that mobile phones accumulate bacteria and can prove dangerous for the healthcare sector, according to an article on the DNA website.

Jon Maner, Harvard Business Review
Think back to the last team project you participated in at work. How did the person running the project lead the group?

Rodger Dean Duncan, Forbes
One of the frustrations many leaders face is the challenge of letting go.

By Sheryl S. Jackson

By John Scherberger

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.

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.