HCSHQ_102021

Page 10 — Health Care & Senior Housing Quarterly — October 2021 www.crej.com HEALTH CARE — CONSTRUCTION H ealth care construction, par- ticularly additions and ren- ovations in an active health care environment, is preva- lent as the industry is driv- en by growth, regulations, patient experience, physician staff pref- erences and pandemic response. Keeping the health and safety of the staff, patients and visitors is at the core of all construction. Com- munication and collaboration with nurses, facilities staff and infec- tion preventionists is imperative to ensure that construction activities will provide the best outcome for patients. With all these measures in place, a critical question remains: How do we effectively protect an area to prevent the spread of con- taminants or even reroute construc- tion activities and workers to mini- mize touch points with patients and staff? Infection prevention and day- to-day hospital activities require expertise and care that construction industry leaders work to improve every day. Patient infection risks associated with construction in an active hospital include dust and airborne particles, an unbalanced ventilation system, which compro- mises air quality, water penetration and stagnation, managing waste and debris. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 5,000 people die every year from hospital-acquired infections linked to construction and renovation activities. Some of these HAIs include: • Construction workers, materials and bacteria can be brought into the hospital and spores can travel easily if not prop- erly contained; • Activities involving vibration can release dust and mold spores into the air as well as cause patient stress and affect instrument perfor- mance; and • Demolition activities can dis- turb and mobilize harmful bacteria and mold throughout the hospital. Before every shift begins work, it’s important for the construction crew to have in place a plan for infection control risk assessment and how to mitigate each risk identified, which results in an infection prevention plan. The type of activity performed will necessitate a different mitiga- tion plan as well as identify the risk group. For example, low-risk areas are those not adjacent to patients such as lobby, office spaces, cha- pels, wellness gardens/outdoor space. Medium-risk areas are areas with patients not identified in the high- or extreme-risk categories. High-risk areas include emergency departments, labor and delivery, laboratories, food prep areas and pediatric centers, while extreme- risk include the ICU, neonatal inten- sive care unit, operating rooms, imaging, radiation and oncology. During construction, our infection prevention methods to prevent con- tamination include: • Anterooms for negative pressure to prevent dust from spreading to adjacent areas; • Negative air pressure in areas where work is performed to con- tain odors and dirt from impacting immune-compromised patients; • Micro-organism contamination control mats to prevent the organ- ism spread to clean floors; • HEPA-filtered vacuums; • HEPA air-filtration systems; • The use of head/shoe covers and gowning; • Self-containment/transition chambers; • Proper tools and slightly misting materials before cutting to mini- mize dust; and • Multiple daily inspections of the work area to ensure enclosures are airtight and clean. It is important to go above and beyond all ICRA protocols by adding another degree of certainty – mak- ing it personal. Infection prevention is everyone’s job to build a better world. Understanding the impacts on health and safety that infection prevention has in a hospital envi- ronment takes training and a true passion to get it right. Construc- tion teams must understand from a clinical aspect how their actions and behaviors can be the differ- Consider making infection prevention personal Michelle Koca Marketing manager, Flintco LLC The temporary COVID-19 separation wall in the west wing at Parker Adventist Hospital. COVID-19 added even more complications to infection prevention. Please see Koca, Page 13