Bhushan Avsatth, Healthcare Facilities Today
The Healthcare and construction industry is facing a hailstorm, and is heavily relying on its rescue team of architects and structural engineers more than ever to identify the potential operating efficiency in new and existing buildings.

CleanLink
After a long, hard winter in most of the country, Spring is much welcomed. It’s the time of renewal. But what can facility managers and building owners do to ensure their property and grounds are ready for the new season?

CleanLink
Many cleaning professionals now select "cleaner-disinfectants" when performing cleaning tasks tackling facility germ centers such as restrooms, desk tops, high-touch areas, food service areas, and more.

Healthcare Facilities Today
Workers in a variety of industries, from professional cleaning to construction, should wear protective hand gear (gloves) when performing their duties.

American Society for Healthcare Engineering
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has adopted the 2012 edition of NFPA 101: Life Safety Code®.

Infection Control Today
International researchers led by the University of Bath have demonstrated a cheap, effective and environmentally-friendly way to sterilize medical implants without changing their properties, in contrast to some techniques.

Natalie Vestin, MPH, CIDRAP
Inpatient antibiotic stewardship programs (ASPs) lower rates of healthcare-associated infections, increase microbial susceptibility to antibiotics, and save healthcare costs, according to ten case studies published in an Apr 26 report from the Pew Charitable Trusts (PCT).

Thom Wellington, DOTmed.com
To combat the alarming 5 percent of all hospital stays that result in readmission due to conditions acquired in health care facilities, all staff and vendors should be well educated on how to minimize the spread of fatal infections.

Infection Control Today
According to this week’s FluView report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), flu activity continues to decrease in the United States. Levels of flu-like illness are now below the national baseline for the first time this season since late December.

Facility Executive
As the number of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) continues to rise, related costs and, ultimately, awareness among hospital and health system executives also have increased.

Carol Kinsey Goman, Forbes
Collaboration has become an essential ingredient for organizational success (perhaps even survival).

Rachel Gillett, The Independent
When we think about "leadership books," we tend to think about non-fiction titles like "Talent Is Overrated," "High Output Management," or the perennial favorite, "How to Win Friends and Influence People."

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

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.

Release Date: Tuesday May 24, 2016 at 1:00 PM CST (LIVE Webinar)
Cost: Complimentary for Members; Non-members $59.00
During this webinar, participants will be exposed to the core elements of hand hygiene best practices for both the healthcare provider and support team as well as strategies to engage patients in the hand hygiene program.
Speaker: Dr. Hudson Garrett Jr., PhD, MSN, MPH, FNP, CSRN, PLNC, VA-BC, Industry Liaison, Board of Directors, Association for the Healthcare Environment

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:
• Preconference Workshop
• CHEST Preconference Workshop
• CMIP Preconference Workshop
• Micro Sessions
• Extended 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.

A founding member of AHE, James Wolfbrandt was always available to mentor and lead his colleagues and would often seek out opportunities to help others learn from his successes and failures. Applicants to this award must follow in Mr. Wolfbrandt’s footsteps and be actively involved in mentoring as well as educating and guiding colleagues, peers or staff members in the profession.
Applications Due June 17, 2016.

Interviews with Gary L. Dolan, Pam Toppel, J. Hudson Garrett, Jr., Lea Beach, Lisa Ford, Doug Rothermel, and Brad M. Winnie

Creating a Career Portfolio; Empowering Employees