By Gunner Lyslo, Founder and CEO, Surfacide
Every day, environmental services professionals carry an enormous responsibility: preparing healthcare spaces for patients who may be especially vulnerable to infection. They perform demanding, detailed work amid competing priorities and pressure to make rooms available. During International Infection Prevention Week, recognizing their contribution should include asking whether we are giving them the support that responsibility deserves.
The stakes extend beyond the patient currently occupying a room. Research shows that patients admitted to rooms previously occupied by someone colonized or infected with a multidrug-resistant organism face an increased risk of acquiring that organism. Environmental contamination can carry risk from one patient to the next, making the work performed between admissions a critical part of patient protection. Manual cleaning and disinfection are foundational to addressing that risk, but even essential processes can have gaps.
Research cited by Dr. John Boyce and colleagues has highlighted the challenges of achieving consistent results through manual cleaning alone, with studies finding that approximately 50% of surfaces did not meet cleaning criteria. These findings underscore a consequential gap in patient protection: manual terminal cleaning alone can leave contamination behind for the next patient. Adjunctive microbial reduction technology adds an important layer to address what may remain after manual cleaning and disinfection.
Those findings should prompt healthcare leaders to examine the systems supporting environmental hygiene. EVS professionals need adequate staffing, training, time, clear responsibilities, and constructive feedback. Boyce’s study demonstrated improvement following education and feedback, reinforcing the importance of that investment.
I recently saw a LinkedIn post from St. Bernard Hospital, a safety net hospital in Chicago, celebrating its contribution of 5.7 million hand hygiene opportunities toward BioVigil’s milestone of one billion opportunities recorded. What stood out was the commitment behind that contribution. It is an encouraging example of a hospital making infection prevention an ongoing, measurable priority. Environmental hygiene deserves that same sustained attention.
We should also recognize the limits of relying on manual processes alone. Consistent execution across every surface and room transition requires systems that support people and strengthen their work.
As the CEO of Surfacide, I know adjunctive microbial reduction technology belongs in that conversation. Following manual cleaning and disinfection, Whole Room Microbial Reduction devices can provide an important additional layer of microbial reduction to environmental surfaces in patient rooms and OR’s
Making that layer meaningful requires leadership commitment. Teams need technology supported by evidence, practical workflows, training, and sufficient time to use it consistently. Purchasing a device is only the beginning; integrating it into environmental hygiene practices makes it an operational resource.
This Infection Prevention Week, our appreciation for EVS and infection prevention professionals should translate into sustained support for their work. Invest in people. Strengthen processes. Make additional tools accessible and usable.
Protecting the next patient begins before admission. The professionals preparing that environment deserve a system designed to help them succeed.
