MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release
October 15, 2012
Spread Knowledge, Not Infection!
Hospitals in London promote National Infection Control Week – October 15-19
LONDON, Ontario – The most effective way to prevent the transmission of infection is through good hand hygiene practice. During National Infection Control Week, October 15-19 London Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph’s Health Care London are reminding patients and visitors they too can, “Spread knowledge, not infection!” by cleaning their hands while in our facilities. It’s important that patients and visitors remember to wash their hands with soap and water or with the alcohol based hand rub located inside and outside each patient room and at all entrances. It only takes 20-30 seconds to stop the spread of infection.
Both LHSC and St. Joseph’s continue to work to ensure staff and physicians practice good hand hygiene through ongoing infection prevention education, participation in provincial hand hygiene campaigns and by installing alcohol-based hand rub at patients’ bedsides and throughout our facilities. We have also included our hand hygiene rates as part of our Quality Improvement Plan key indicators.
“At St. Joseph’s Parkwood Hospital, we have challenged our care providers to commit to achieving 100% hand hygiene compliance at all four major moments of care through a ‘Pledge to Hand Hygiene’ that staff have signed and posted in care areas. It speaks to ensuring to clean our hands, holding each other accountable and thanking those who remind us to wash our hands,” says St. Joseph’s Interim Director of Infection Control Debra Wiltshire.
“Hand hygiene behavior is the responsibility of every individual,” says Cathy Vandersluis, Director of Infection Safety, LHSC. “Patients can help by asking if their health care provider has washed their hands before they start an examination. Visitors need to remember to wash their hands before and after they visit their loved one.”
LHSC and St. Joseph’s continue to build on previous strategies to increase hand hygiene. Hand hygiene is the primary measure for enhancing patient safety by reducing healthcare associated infection and the spread of antimicrobial resistant bacteria.
About London Health Sciences Centre
London Health Sciences Centre has been in the forefront of medicine in Canada for 137 years and offers the broadest range of specialized clinical services in Ontario. Building on the traditions of its founding hospitals to provide compassionate care in an academic teaching setting, London Health Sciences Centre is home to Children’s Hospital, South Street Hospital, University Hospital, Victoria Hospital, two family medical centres, and two research institutes – Children’s Health Research Institute and Lawson Health Research Institute, a joint research initiative with St. Joseph’s Health Care London. As a leader in medical discovery and health research, London Health Sciences Centre has a history of over 50 international and national firsts and attracts top clinicians and researchers from around the world. As a regional referral centre, London Health Sciences Centre cares for the most medically complex patients including critically injured adults and children in southwestern Ontario and beyond. The hospital’s nearly 15,000 staff, physicians, students and volunteers provide care for more than one million patient visits a year. For more information visit www.lhsc.on.ca
About St. Joseph’s Health Care London
Renowned for compassionate care, St. Joseph’s is one of the best academic health care organizations in Canada dedicated to helping people live to their fullest by minimizing the effects of injury, disease and disability through excellence in care, teaching and research. Through partnership with Lawson Health Research Institute and our collaborative engagement with other health care and academic partners, St. Joseph’s has become an international leader in the areas of: chronic disease management; medical imaging; specialized mental health care; rehabilitation and specialized geriatrics; and surgery. St. Joseph’s operates through a wide range of hospital, clinic and long-term and community based settings, including: St. Joseph’s Hospital; Parkwood Hospital; Mount Hope Centre for Long Term Care; Regional Mental Health Care London and St. Thomas. For more information vist: www.sjhc.london.on.ca
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For more information:
Sarah Muto
London Health Sciences Centre
519-685-8500 ext. 77062
Kelsi Break
St. Joseph's Health Care London
519-646-6100 ext. 64792
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