Rx for Hand Hygiene

In 2010, Northwestern Memorial Hospital (NMH) in Chicago, one of the country’s premier academic medical centers, launched a major hand-washing campaign aimed at employees, patients and visitors: “Clean Hands Every Time.” According to a hospital press release, two-thirds of Americans fall short in adopting the habit of washing their hands, and 80% of infections are transmitted through touch. If hands are kept clean, the transmission of germs from person to person is greatly reduced. As part of a hospital-wide education campaign on the importance of proper hand hygiene, NMH even self-produced a sing-a-long video parody featuring hospital staff demonstrating their best hand washing techniques.

While hospital administration was encouraging its employees, patients and visitors to do their part to prevent the spread of viruses, Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s Director of Facilities Engineering David Stout was also beginning his own campaign—a major hospital refurbishment program that would include equipment and product upgrades to the hospital’s restrooms.

Going into the refurbishment project, Stout and his team were faced with daily restroom plumbing and maintenance issues related to paper towels. “The paper towels were getting flushed down the low-flow toilets, causing blockages,” said Stout. “The continuous plumbing calls combined with the high levels of restroom maintenance were taking up a considerable amount of time and costly resources. That’s when we got serious about looking into heated air electric hand dryers.” What’s more, Stout said that damp, used paper towels were regularly piling up in and around bathroom trash receptacles. Left unattended, dirty paper towels can create a breeding ground for bacteria.

As high-speed, energy-efficient hand dryers have grown in popularity over the last eight years, so have the scare tactics used by the industry’s competitors, touting dryer hygiene as a concern. “There is a lot of confusion and misinformation about the use of hand dryers in healthcare facilities,” says William Gagnon, vice president of marketing and key accounts, Excel Dryer Inc. “Over the last 40 years, numerous scientific researchers have validated the hygienic safety of heated air as a drying medium. These independent, third-party studies were conducted with careful methodology at major academic or medical institutions.”

After review, the NMH Infection Control board concluded that dryers with traditional high velocity heated air streams were the most hygienic option, citing concerns that trough-style dryers could catch and hold water blown off users’ hands, leaving pools of stagnant water where bacteria can grow. The trough area is also susceptible to collecting trash and foreign objects such as hair, gum and/or other liquids, further creating an unhygienic environment and potential breeding area for bacteria.

With approval from NMH’s Infection Control board, the facilities staff installed over 100 XLERATOR high-speed, energy-efficient hand dryers the first year, thus meeting the hospital’s rigorous standards for hand hygiene.

Unlike conventional hand dryers, which average 30 to 45 seconds of drying time, XLERATOR dries hands three times faster (completely in 10-15 seconds) and uses 80% less energy than conventional hand dryers. XLERATOR represents a 95% cost savings when compared to paper towels, reduces maintenance and improves restroom hygiene. XLERATOR is also the only hand dryer to be MADE IN USA certified, the first hand dryer to be GreenSpec Listed and it can help facilities qualify for multiple LEED credits. “Installation of XLERATOR hand dryers at Northwestern Memorial Hospital is a perfect demonstration of how facility managers can meet stringent hygiene guidelines, while saving money and reducing their environmental impact,” said Gagnon. “The truth is, heated air, high-speed, energy-efficient hand dryers are the most hygienic hand drying solution for healthcare facilities.”

To date, over 120 dryers have been installed at Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s main campus, with more to come as the hospital embarks on the building and opening of two new facilities—its Lake Forest campus and, most recently, its Northwestern Organ Transplant Clinic in Joliet, Ill. “We look at this product like it was tailor made for us,” concludes Stout