As healthcare facilities around the world look for effective ways to battle viruses and bacteria that can lurk on high-touch surfaces, Jefferson Healthcare has taken a leap into the future with a LightStrike Germ-Zapping Robot that quickly destroys microscopic pathogens in hard-to-clean places. Named ELISA, the robot is already hard at work -- quickly disinfecting rooms inside the hospital, which is the first healthcare facility on the peninsula to deploy a LightStrike robot.
With the world's focus on preventing the spread of COVID-19 and recognizing that superbugs are becoming increasingly resistant to cleaning chemicals, antibiotics, and even some hand sanitizers, healthcare facilities are turning to new technology to enhance their cleaning protocols. Microorganisms such as Clostridioides difficile (C.diff), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (VRE), often dwell on high-touch surfaces in healthcare facilities.
Manufactured by Xenex Disinfection Services, the world leader in ultraviolet (UV) disinfection for healthcare facilities, LightStrike Germ-Zapping Robots use pulsed xenon to create intense bursts of broad spectrum UV light that quickly destroy bacteria and viruses on surfaces. The UV disinfection robot works quickly and does not require warm-up or cool-down time, so the hospital is able to disinfect dozens of rooms per day. Forty-five peer-reviewed studies have been published validating the efficacy of the LightStrike robot disinfection technology. The LightStrike room disinfection robot is proven to deactivate Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19, on surfaces in two minutes.
"Excellent health care is our top priority and ensuring that people visiting our health care facilities are entering the best possible environment is part of our commitment to them," said Nichole Beal, environmental services manager. "We want people to come in and seek treatment, and providing them with the cleanest facility possible is an important step in making them feel comfortable."
The robot is operated by facility cleaning staff and will not replace valuable employees. LightStrike is being used to disinfect a wide variety of rooms at Jefferson Healthcare, including patient rooms, isolation rooms, ORs, Emergency Department, restrooms, and radiology.
Source: https://jeffersonhealthcare.org/