United States
Aid to Hospitals Inc, a cooperative that provides laundry and laundry services to its four owners and their affiliated facilities and clinics in the Rochester region of New York, has recently qualified to renew the Hygienically Clean Healthcare certification.
The recertification reflects their continued commitment to best management washing practices (BMPs), which have been verified by on-site inspection, and their ability to produce hygienically clean fabrics as quantified by ongoing microbial testing.
The Hygienically Clean Healthcare certification confirms the organization's continued commitment to infection prevention, compliance with recognized industry standards, and processing of health textiles using BMPs, as described in the quality assurance documentation. This is a focus for the assessment of the Hygienically Clean inspectors. The independent third party inspection must also confirm material evidence that:
The Hygienically Clean Healthcare certification confirms the effectiveness of laundries in protecting health care by reviewing quality control procedures for linen, uniform and facility services related to handling textiles that contain blood and other potentially infectious materials.
Certified laundries use procedures, chemicals, and BMPs that are recognized by the Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Medicare and Medicaid Service Centers, the Medical Instrument Promotion Association, the American National Standards Institute, and others . Hygienically Clean Healthcare was introduced in North America in 2012 and brought the international cleanliness standards for bedding and clothing for healthcare, used worldwide by the Certification Association for Professional Textile Services and the European Committee for Standardization.
Objective experts in epidemiology, infection control, nursing and other health care professionals work with laundromats to ensure that certification continues to enforce the highest standards for the manufacture of clean textiles for healthcare. Aid to Hospitals Inc. also has TRSA Clean Green certification for its environmental practices.
"Congratulations to Aid to Hospitals on their recertification," said Joseph Ricci, President and CEO of TRSA. "This achievement shows their commitment to infection prevention and that their laundry is taking all possible steps to prevent human diseases."
