On February 27, 2023, Jefferson Healthcare informed that it has taken a futuristic step by purchasing a LightStrike Germ-Zapping Robot, which quickly eliminates microscopic pathogens in difficult-to-clean places, at a time when healthcare facilities around the world are searching for effective ways to combat viruses and bacteria that can lurk on high-touch surfaces.
The hospital is the first on the peninsula to use a LightStrike robot, and the robot, which has been given the name ELISA, is now hard at work sanitizing patient rooms.
With the global emphasis on preventing the spread of COVID-19 and the realization that superbugs are becoming increasingly resistant to cleaning chemicals, medicines, and even hand sanitizers, healthcare facilities are turning to new technology to improve cleaning practices. In healthcare institutions, high-touch surfaces frequently harbor microorganisms such as Clostridioides difficile (C.diff), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and vancomycin-resistant Enterococci (VRE).
LightStrike Germ-Zapping Robots from Xenex Disinfection Services, the world leader in ultraviolet (UV) disinfection for healthcare institutions, employ pulsed xenon to produce strong bursts of broad-spectrum UV light that kill bacteria and viruses on surfaces. The hospital can disinfect dozens of rooms daily using the UV disinfection robot, which requires no warm-up or cool-down time. Around 45 peer-reviewed studies have proven that LightStrike robot disinfection technology is quite effective. Not only this, but it also kills COVID-19-causing SARS-CoV-2 on surfaces in just two minutes!
Most importantly, the robot is operated by facility maintenance personnel and will not displace valuable employees. In Jefferson Healthcare, LightStrike is utilized to disinfect a range of facilities, including patient rooms, isolation rooms, operating rooms, the emergency department, bathrooms, and radiology.
About Jefferson Healthcare
Jefferson Healthcare provides primary care to over 29,000 inhabitants of eastern Jefferson County on the Olympic Peninsula. The 25-bed critical access hospital in Port Townsend offers top-rated surgical services, a full-service orthopedic clinic, acute and emergency care, oncology and infusion services, advanced diagnostic imaging, a baby-friendly family birth center, physical therapy and rehabilitation, a Coumadin clinic, and sleep medicine. The company also has 8 primary care clinics in Port Ludlow and Quilcene, along with home health as well a hospice agency.