Jamie Morgan, Health Facilities Management
A recent survey that polled cleaning professionals from across four industries showed that those in the health care field experienced pressure to keep costs down.

Keith Sopha and B. Douglas Ford, Facility Care
How long does it take to clean a hospital room? The answer is not as straightforward as first appears.

Jeff Ferenc, Health Facilities Management
Carolinas HealthCare System-Pineville turned around its energy performance through a combination of benchmarking, low-cost improvements and large capital investments.

Jon Asplund, Hospitals & Health Networks
Quality isn’t a choice for caregivers at Charleston (W.Va.) Area Medical Center Health System, it’s an unconditional necessity.

Leah Binder, Forbes
Healthcare in the United States is not safe. One in four patients admitted to a hospital will suffer some form of unintended harm, one in six will get an infection and about 500 a day will die of a preventable error.

Infection Control Today
New research from the University of Southampton shows that copper can destroy MRSA spread by touching and fingertip contamination of surfaces.

Liz Szabo, USA Today
Two Texas hospitals — Texas Children’s Hospital and Houston Methodist Hospital — have developed a rapid test for the Zika virus, a milestone in responding to the outbreak.

Katrina Pascual, Tech Times
Breaking through superbugs' defensive barrier might be a more sound strategy than killing the bacteria directly — and scientists in the United Kingdom have revealed the process by which this works.

Cindy Atoji Keene, Boston Globe
Jarreau Jean-Woods is on the front lines at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge. Without him, infection could run rampant and safety could be compromised, everywhere from the emergency room to the maternity ward.

Elliot Tomaeno, Forbes
The freedom of being a leader comes with hidden shackles: the ties you feel to your investors, supporters, employees and all of the other people you don’t want to let down.

Sarah Finnie Robinson, Huffington Post
We all know about the glass that has a midline, depicting the optimist/pessimist divide.

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.

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

The designation of AHE Fellow (FAHE) recognizes current AHE members for reaching the highest level of education and achievement in both the Association and in the environmental services field. Only presented to Certified Healthcare Environmental Services Professionals (CHESP), FAHE status is given to active members who have excelled in specific areas and have submitted an acceptable, original, unpublished paper on a current aspect of environmental services.

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:
Infection Prevention Certificate of Mastery Preconference Program for Environmental Services Leaders Preconference Workshop
CHESTPreconference Workshop
Micro Sessions
Healthcare Marketplace

If interested in contributing to EXPLORE by authoring a best-practices article, email Russell Underwood, EXPLORE editor, for more information. The magazine covers all aspects relevant to health care environmental services professionals.

The AHE awards and recognition program acknowledges and elevates professionals who have demonstrated the highest level of excellence and leadership. Award recipients are those who work towards advocating and educating themselves on best practices and standards, developing new leaders within a hospital or healthcare facility, and promoting the environmental services profession.
Applications Due June 17, 2016.

The future of health care textiles and their effect on the patient experience.
Gabriel Boardman, EXPLORE magazine

How environmental services, infection prevention, and health care laundry can enhance linen stewardship and awareness.
Chad Basham, MBA, CHESP, Nellie League, MSN, RN, NE-BC, and Lynn Moreau, BSN, RN, EXPLORE magazine