MountainView Hospital Unveils New Tool to Enhance Patient Safety

In an ongoing effort to improve patient safety, MountainView Hospital in Las Vegas announces it is the first hospital in Nevada to use Xenex Healthcare Services innovative germ-zapping room disinfection technology to keep patients even safer from infections.

Were dedicated to a culture of safety for our patients, says Will Wagnon, chief executive officer at MountainView Hospital. We are continuously striving to eliminate the transmission of infections by adhering to best practices, increasing surveillance and now by using the advanced technology of UV room disinfection.

Xenexs portable room disinfection device pulses blue ultraviolet light throughout MountainViews isolation rooms, intensive care units (ICUs) and the emergency department (ED) to quickly destroy viruses, bacteria and bacterial spores typically in about 5-10 minutes per room. Uniquely designed for ease of use and portability, MountainView is using the Xenex device in rooms after they have been thoroughly cleaned by housekeeping staff.

Were always looking for innovative ways to provide even better, safer care for our community, says Jan Olivas, patient safety officer at MountainView Hospital. We are committed to providing the best possible care for every patient and that means making sure they dont acquire an infection while in the hospital.

MountainView Hospital is a customer of Sodexo Inc., a leader in healthcare environmental services management which delivers infection control best practices to patients. Sodexo selected Xenex as its preferred partner for disinfection of Sodexo client facilities in 2011.

Our housekeepers currently follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and state department of health protocol when cleaning patient rooms and they do a good job, says Eileen Kennedy, Sodexo director of environmental services at MountainView Hospital. Xenex will support those efforts by providing our patients with an extra measure of disinfection, she adds.

Xenex systems are currently in use by hospitals throughout the U.S. and have proven to be effective against a variety of the most dangerous superbugs, including Clostridium difficile endospores (C. diff), MRSA, VRE and Acinetobacter. Studies show the Xenex room disinfection system is consistently 20 times more effective than standard chemical cleaning practices.

We have heard repeatedly from our customers across the U.S. that our device is enabling them to save patient lives because we are eliminating the deadly superbugs which cause infections, says Mark Stibich, PhD, chief scientific officer of Xenex. Our device can disinfect patient rooms in just a matter of minutes, which means that we fit into a hospitals day-to-day operations, which is unlike any other technology on the market today.

Xenexs UV light room disinfection technology will help MountainView Hospital further reduce the presence of bacteria - including C. diff - a stubborn bacteria thats been on the rise in hospitals across the country in recent years. The C. diff germ can be found in the community and can be transmitted when a patient is in any health care facility, including a hospital or a nursing home. C. diff is a bacterium that causes inflammation of the colon and can live in the environment for months.

Because its protected by a hard coating, a microorganism like C. diff requires an even stronger weapon than standard hospital cleaning products, says Stibich. Our patented pulsed xenon UV light disinfection technology penetrates the shell and eliminates the C. diff spore in just a couple of minutes, which makes it feasible for everyday use throughout an entire facility, he adds.