Heather Punke, Becker’s Hospital Review
U.S. News & World Report released its brand-new hospital ratings, called Best Hospitals for Common Care, Wednesday. The following are six things to know about the new ratings.

Environmental Leader
More hospitals are reducing patient and staff exposure to toxins by purchasing and using safer chemicals, according to the 2014 Milestone Report, released by the Healthier Hospitals Initiative (HHI).

Shannon Barnet, Becker’s Hospital Review
Capitalizing on innovative new textile technology that may reduce the transmission of hospital-acquired infections can help provider organizations take their quality and patient safety efforts to the next level.

Bill Grimwood, Health Facilities Management
A typical housekeeper will spend two or more hours each day on such non-cleaning activities as traveling to the supply or linen closet, running errands for the supervisor, performing computer or paperwork, setting up equipment, donning personal protective equipment, and restocking his or her cart.

Eric Pooley, Quartz
Chemical companies have long marketed themselves as delivering "better living through chemistry," and there’s some truth to that: From cleaning products to plastics to the chemicals that make touch-screen cellphones possible, chemicals are used to make 96 percent of products and materials in America—it is hard to imagine life without them.

Digital Journal
The Healthier Hospitals Initiative (HHI) released its 2014 Milestone Report, announcing the collective impact of nearly 1,000 hospitals across the country that reduced their environmental footprint, lowered costs, and improved the health of patients and staff.

CleanLink
Filmop USA launches a new content-rich website with an abundance of product information and tools for the proper selection of cleaning systems for health care facilities. The site highlights products specifically designed for health care facilities, such as Alpha ES mobile workstations; on-demand microfiber charging systems; and no-touch mopping and surface cleaning technology.

Infection Control Today
Researchers from the University of Toronto have determined the economic impact Clostridium difficile infections have on hospitals and published their findings in The American Journal of Gastroenterology.

euronews
As in every French hospital, the staff at the Department of Infectious and Tropical Diseases at the Hopital Nord in Marseille must follow simple hygiene procedures like disinfecting hands.

Chad Terhune and Melody Petersen, LA Times
Three months after deadly superbug outbreaks sparked alarm nationwide, U.S. hospitals are still searching for how best to clean a controversial medical scope and keep patients safe.

Medical Construction & Design
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health recently released the Hospital Respiratory Protection Toolkit, a resource for health care employers to use to protect hospital staff from respiratory hazards.

Vistor Lipman, Forbes
Why is it that one of the management tasks that is easiest to provide is also one of the most frequently neglected?

Travis Bradberry, Entrepreneur
Great leadership is dynamic. It melds a variety of unique skills into an integrated whole.

Gianpiero Petriglieri, Harvard Business Review
In the early 1980s, Ralph Stayer sent a long memo and a $200 check to every employee of his family business. Since taking over as CEO, sales had increased fifteen-fold. Profits were up 150 percent.

Nick Morgan, Harvard Business Review
We’ve all encountered people who say less but what they say matters more; people who know how to use silence to dominate an exchange. So having influence means more than just doing all the talking; it’s about taking charge and understanding the roles that positional power, emotion, expertise, and nonverbal signals play.

New Technologies for Surface Cleaning and Disinfection - UV Light
Thursday, June 18
The use of ultraviolet (UV) light technology is rapidly becoming one of the most effective adjunct cleaning technologies in the fight against health care associated infections. Scientists and engineers are continuing to develop this technology as a means to combat pathogens such as MRSA, Ebola, and C-diff in health care facilities. This webinar will explore:

1. How UV light technology is being used as a protocol for surface decontamination;
2. Use guidelines that are currently being developed; and
3. How environmental services leaders can begin to build a business case for the technology.

New this year includes a Certified Healthcare Environmental Services Technician Workshop, Express Labs, and exciting pre-conference events. Open registration is available until July 31, 2015.

Take part in one of AHE's Train the Trainer workshops and return to your facility prepared to train your environmental services staff to become Certified Healthcare Environmental Service Technicians, CHEST... and start making significant contributions to the patient experience of care, the facility, the profession, and the community!