Vileda Professional Partners With Clean Hospitals to Promote Sustainable Cleaning Solutions in Health Care

Clean Hospital Day interview by Infection Control Today.

Infection Control Today^® (ICT^®) recently spoke with Ing P.B. (Paul) Harleman, Global Application Manager for Vileda Professional at Freudenberg Home and Cleaning Solutions, based in Weinheim, Germany. The discussion focused on Vileda Professional’s partnership with the Clean Hospitals initiative and their efforts to promote cleaner, safer health care environments. Harleman shared insights into the company’s commitment to sustainable cleaning solutions, their role in advancing environmental services (EVS) and infection prevention, and the significance of Clean Hospitals Day in raising awareness about health care cleaning standards. As Vileda Professional continues to expand its global outreach, it emphasizes the importance of collaboration, innovation, and knowledge-sharing to make hospitals safer and more hygienic.

ICT: What does your company do, and what is your connection to Clean Hospitals?

Ing P.B. (Paul) Harleman: Vileda Professional is an international company belonging to the Freudenberg Group, a family-owned business that celebrates their 175th anniversary this year [2024]. We develop, produce, and sell cleaning utensils for the professional cleaning market. The company is very much focused on serving the market with sustainable solutions and helping customers solve their cleaning tasks. Customers are inhouse environmental services (EVS) cleaning services and contract cleaners. Vileda Professional is highly innovative, serving office cleaning solutions, health care, controlled environment (clean rooms), and hospitality (catering, restaurants, hotels, and other overnight accommodations).

ICT: Why does your company feel it is essential to be involved in Clean Hospitals and Clean Hospitals Day to promote it here in the US?

PH: The culture within Vileda Professional is to cooperate with customers, to learn from customers, and to share insights with customers that make the world a cleaner and safer place. For instance, every 2 years, we publish the Vileda Professional Healthcare Magazine. Vileda Professional facilitates and publishes independent authors who write articles about actual topics on EVS, infection control and prevention (IPC), and health care sustainability. Take a look at the 2024 edition to have an impression. That is also the reason why we partner with Clean Hospitals. To learn, share, and improve.

Although it took a while, we signed our partnership in May at the Interclean Amsterdam; I have kept in contact with Clean Hospitals since the opening meeting in 2018. We promote the Clean Hospital initiative not only in the US, but in all other countries where we are located by ourselves or with distributors.

ICT: How will your company celebrate Clean Hospitals Day?

PH: We are relatively new to Clean Hospitals and recently published our partnership to the world. Nevertheless, we inform our sales and marketing teams and distributors about Clean Hospitals Day and stimulate them to use the promotional toolkit to inform their network.

ICT: What message do you want to give to infection prevention personnel about Clean Hospitals and Clean Hospitals Day?

PH: My message to IPC experts would be to look at the Clean Hospitals website and learn what the Clean Hospitals initiative is all about, share good practices and research with Clean Hospitals, support the development of worldwide environmental cleaning standards so that we all cooperate to make the world, specifically hospitals, a cleaner and hygienic safer place. Bring Clean Hospitals Day to the attention of your organization and promote it like it is done with the hand hygiene campaign. If you have time, join the Clean Hospitals Day 2024 Webber Teleclass webinar on Friday, October 18, 2024.