IAHCSMM and 3M Announce Ambassadors for Third Annual Global Educational Exchange

The International Association of Healthcare Central Service Materiel Management (IAHCSMM) and 3M announce the educational ambassadors for the third annual International Sister CSSD Educational Exchange Program. The educational program is designed to promote the global exchange of best practices in the central sterile supply departments (CSSD) of hospitals, targeting improved patient care in healthcare facilities worldwide.

Each year since the program was introduced in 2012, the IAHCSMM /3M International Sister CSSD Educational Exchange Program has matched three CSSDs from the U.S. with another three CSSDs from across Asia Pacific, Latin America or Central Eastern Europe/Middle East regions. The selected CSSD managers host and travel to partner hospital facilities for weeklong shadowing experiences, participate in monthly teleconferences, and share their takeaways with regional and national professional networks.

The program participants for 2014-2015 have been selected and paired as follows:

Tonya Miller from Bon Secours Saint Francis Health System, Greenville, S.C. with HaiYi Yeng from GuangDong General Hospital, GuangZhou, China

Linda Condon from Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, Md. with Liliana Lervasi from Hospital Austral, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Roschell Lloyd from Mercy Iowa City Hospital, Iowa City, Iowa with Petr Demidov from City Hospital 4, Moscow, Russia

Key learnings from the exchange program will be presented at the IAHCSMM 50th Annual Conference and Expo in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on May 2, 2015. IAHCSMM and 3M have both provided financial support and managerial oversight for the program since its inception, including cooperative selection of ambassadors.

“Innovative practices in sterile processing are being developed all the time, all throughout the world. However, extending knowledge and practices beyond one’s walls isn’t necessarily common given the busy nature of sterile processing departments,” says Natalie Lind, IAHCSMM educational director. “This program reminds us how important it is to make connections and share best practices, especially when it can directly affect patient outcomes. We at IAHCSMM are delighted to work with 3M in that same spirit of collaboration, demonstrating how innovative partnerships can benefit of the entire profession.”

The 2013-2014 cycle of the exchange program paired Andre Cox from Kaiser Permanente in Anaheim, Calif. with Gretta Abu-Rjeily from American University of Beirut Medical Center in Beirut, Lebanon; Gail Doyle of Sanford Medical Center, Sioux Falls, S.D. with Han Tiew Peng of Tan Tock Seng Hospital in Singapore; and Jan Prudent of Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center, Idaho Falls, Idaho with Giovana Moriya of Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein in Sao Paulo, Brazil. In its first year, the program connected hospitals and CSSD managers in Texas and Colombia, Minnesota and Taiwan, and Idaho and United Arab Emirates.

“We congratulate the latest exchange program ambassadors as they embark on this special learning opportunity,” says Dr. Cem Yurttas, global manager of scientific affairs and education at 3M Health Care. “Our excitement for them extends also to their many patients, colleagues, and other connections who will eventually benefit from their expanded knowledge. The potential impact is immense.”

Source: International Association of Healthcare Central Service Materiel Management (IAHCSMM) and  3M Health Care