Julie Bird, Fierce Healthcare
CEO of Dignity Health continues industry calls for hospitals to lead the way on climate change.

Jeff Ferenc, Health Facilities Management
A group of hospital systems has pledged to reduce purchases of furniture and furnishings treated with antimicrobials and other chemicals as part of a goal supported by Practice Greenhealth and Health Care Without Harm, both headquartered in Reston, Va.

Lexology
Potentially affected health care facilities should evaluate current management practices, evaluate best management practices for regulated facilities, and develop a plan to prepare for and manage a regulatory inspection.

Carl Weinschenk, Energy Manager Today
Healthcare facilities – especially hospitals that run on a 24/7 basis – are a special vertical in the landscape of energy use and efficiency.

Jenny Gold, Kaiser Health News
Meet the Tugs — a team of 27 robots now zooming around the hallways of the new University of California-San Francisco hospital at Mission Bay.

Philip Betbeze, HealthLeaders Media
As his board nears naming a successor, the longtime CEO of a South Florida public hospital looks back on more than four decades of service that started in housekeeping.

Heather Punke, Becker's Infection Control & Clinical Quality
A hospital relocated its hand sanitizer dispenser from the side of the lobby to in the middle of the lobby and saw use skyrocket 528 percent, according to a study published in the March issue of the American Journal of Infection Control.

Infection Control Today
According to this week’s FluView report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), flu activity continues to increase in the United States.

Infection Control Today
New research from the University of East Anglia shows that the risk of catching Ebola from a survivor is very low.

Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic
Some dryers spread germs instead of removing them.

Ben Schmitt, Tribune-Review
Despite the innovations and high tech equipment filling up Allegheny General Hospital's new $26 million cardiovascular care facility, visitors won't notice much linen, if any, and definitely no curtains.

Ron Carucci, Forbes
By now, everyone’s heard 70% of the workforce is checked out. That’s why employee engagement remains all the rage among management fads.

Geoff Colvin, Fortune
Warren Buffett’s annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, released last Saturday, is scrutinized worldwide for economic and investing insights.

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.

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

To acknowledge the ongoing and outstanding sustainability efforts of healthcare facilities - and environmental service departments in particular - the AHE presents the Environmental Sustainability Certificate Program. This program not only provides guidance on efficient, effective and value-added environmentally sustainable healthcare operations, but also provides it in such a way that is achievable within all budgets.

EXCHANGE 2016 will be held on September 25-28, at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, PA. This year, EXCHANGE attendees can look forward to:
Infection Prevention Certificate of Mastery Preconference Program for Environmental Services Leaders Preconference Workshop
CHEST Preconference Workshop
Micro Sessions
Healthcare Marketplace

The AHE awards and recognition program acknowledges and elevates professionals who have demonstrated the highest level of excellence and leadership. Award recipients are those who work towards advocating and educating themselves on best practices and standards, developing new leaders within a hospital or healthcare facility, and promoting the environmental services profession.
Applications Due June 17, 2016.

If interested in contributing to EXPLORE by authoring a best-practices article, email Russell Underwood, EXPLORE editor, for more information. The magazine covers all aspects relevant to health care environmental services professionals.

Gail Fraine, RN, MMHC, BSN, CIC, EXPLORE magazine
Simple ways to encourage collaboration to prevent disease transmissions.

25 essential considerations for evaluating the health care laundry.
Gregory Gicewicz, EXPLORE magazine