First Skilled Nursing Facility in Texas to Protect Residents with Xenex Germ-Zapping Robot

Morningside Ministries has taken a leap into the future with the installation of a germ-zapping robot in its skilled nursing facility (SNF), Morningside Ministries at the Manor. The new disinfection system from Xenex Disinfection Services will help eliminate hard-to-kill bugs in hard-to-clean places such as Clostridium difficile (C. diff) and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

C. diff infections affect more than half a million people each year, and are becoming more common in senior adults. After treatment with antibiotics, the infection often becomes more severe, frequent and difficult to treat. In order to combat and dramatically reduce the risk of C. diff infections, as well as many other common health risks, Morningside Ministries has become the first SNF in Texas to employ a Xenex germ-killing robot.

While staff cleans each room thoroughly and efficiently, harmful bacteria, viruses and fungi still linger in some hard-to-reach areas, especially those areas where human hands can’t reach. The Xenex robot can then go in as an additional patient safety measure, pulsing xenon ultraviolet (UV) light throughout the patient’s room to quickly eliminate all traces of bacterial spores in as little as 5 minutes. The robot blasts UV light that is 25,000 times brighter than sunlight, penetrating the cell walls of the microorganism and destroying it.

Morningside Ministries has three retirement communities to accommodate and support a wide range of needs for senior adults 55 years and older. Morningside Ministries offers retirement living apartments, independent living cottages, assisted living, memory care, rehabilitation and nursing care. Since 1961 Morningside Ministries has been serving the San Antonio senior community, and has been recognized as a premiere place to retire by Time magazine and Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine.

Because the Xenex robot uses UV light, it is able to reach every surface of the room, without leftover chemical residue. To disinfect a room after standard cleaning procedures are complete, resident-care team members wheel the Xenex robot into the room, position it beside the bed, begin the automated sequence, and then leave the room. A sign is placed outside the room warning people not to enter while the robot is in operation, and a motion sensor on the robot automatically shuts off the machine if anyone should enter. For optimum results, the process is then repeated on the other side of the bed and in the bathroom, for a total of 15 minutes to thoroughly clean each room.

“The Xenex germ-zapping robot had an immediate positive impact on our facility and the health of our residents, most noticeably in the significant decrease in C. diff infections,” says Alvin Loewenberg, president of Morningside Ministries. “We are also pleasantly surprised to see a big decrease in respiratory infections with the Xenex robot. Because of the speed of the xenon UV technology, one person has easily been able to disinfect an average of 14 rooms per day. It’s making a real difference on the well being of our residents.”

Source: Xenex Healthcare Services