The Association for the Healthcare Environment (AHE) has announced that Key Source International is the third ever environmental services industry leader to be presented with AHE’s prestigious Innovation Award.

We need YOU! AHE is gathering input from environmental services departments across the country to identify baseline staffing productivity standards. The results of this data gathering will be used in building staffing models and providing metrics for environmental services directors. You can be a key player in identifying and establishing these important staffing criteria for our industry.

AHE has started this initiative to encourage professionals in the field to begin, or continue to refer to the departments and the personnel caring for the healthcare environment as environmental services professionals rather than as housekeepers, janitors and custodians. The staff and management teams responsible for maintaining the clinical environment of care require different skills and competencies from those needed in the commercial cleaning and general maintenance industry and it's time we address this critical distinction.

Please help us redefine healthcare environmental services!

American Laundry News
"To ensure that the laundry I manage is achieving top production on an ongoing basis, what do you think I should be tracking and why?"

Healthcare Facilities Today
The Healthcare Laundry Accreditation Council (HLAC) is encouraging all healthcare laundry providers to take a proactive role with their customers' infection preventionists (IPs) and other stakeholders to prevent hospital acquired infections (HAIs).

facilities.net
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has released a set of Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs to help employers establish a methodical approach to improving safety at their workplaces.

Corinne Zudonyi, CleanLink
I have worked in this industry for the last 11 years and I’ve met a lot of managers. Overwhelmingly, I have found that those that are most successful, most innovative and most talked about by others in the industry all share three distinct attributes: a positive attitude, determination and a strong respect for their teams.

Einav Keet, ContagionLive
Hospitals have studied various new approaches to reducing the transmission of healthcare-associated infections, such as isolating carriers of Clostridium difficille (C. difficile) and using ultraviolet light to disinfect patient rooms. Now, a new study shows that using antimicrobial copper can kill surface bacteria and minimize pathogens in hospital rooms.

Jamie Morgan, Health Facilities Management
The Joint Commission adopted a new antimicrobial stewardship standard that goes into effect Jan 1.

HPN Online
The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention delivered a grim assessment Tuesday of the government’s ability to contain Zika, saying it’s too late to stop the dangerous virus from spreading throughout the United States.

Anuja Vaidya, Becker's Infection Control & Clinical Quality
A multifaceted educational intervention led to increased awareness of hand hygiene opportunities and improved compliance in a large district hospital's radiology unit, according to a study published in Antimicrobial Resistance & Infection Control.

Healio
Raising awareness of a disease can go a long way in helping to prevent or treat it, and this is especially true for influenza, which kills thousands of people each year. According to the CDC, most cases can be avoided by receiving the influenza vaccine, but vaccination rates remain stagnant.

Alex Budak, Huffington Post
One of the biggest mistakes I see leaders make, is overvaluing being "in control" and undervaluing being "under control."

Shellie Karabell, Forbes
In the course of my career as a business journalist and in writing this leadership blog, I’ve come across tons of information in print, on video and in-person that cuts to the core of good leadership.

By Sheryl S. Jackson

By Mitch Birchfield

Make yourself indispensable and advance your career! Plan your education for 2016. Visit AHE’s brand-new 2016 ENGAGE site to learn more about educational courses, podcasts, webinars, and events.

The designation of AHE Fellow (FAHE) recognizes current AHE members for reaching the highest level of education and achievement in both the Association and in the environmental services field. Only presented to Certified Healthcare Environmental Services Professionals (CHESP), FAHE status is given to active members who have excelled in specific areas and have submitted an acceptable, original, unpublished paper on a current aspect of environmental services.