We Have a New Name: Healthcare Surfaces Institute

Growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together.
— James Cash Penny

As the Healthcare Surfaces Summit closed out its third and most successful year, the organization realized that they had outgrown their original name. Multiple successes in 2018, with bigger goals for 2019, necessitated a name that surpassed an annual event. Healthcare Surfaces Institute was recently adopted by the Board of Directors to represent the larger body of work that is happening throughout the year and not just at one annual event. The organization is unwavering from their focus on surfaces and their mission: To reduce the transmission of surface-related pathogens that cause infection and illness through collaboration of stakeholders in all sectors of healthcare.

“We will continue to host an annual event and stay true to what stands us apart from other events,” said Executive Director Linda Lybert, adding that this distinction lies in the ongoing dialogue from the convened experts and members of the Initiative Groups. The 4th Annual Meeting of the Healthcare Surfaces Institute will be held in San Antonio, Texas August 19-21, 2019. The agenda has expanded to include roundtable discussions and a new perk to be announced later.

In 2015, the Healthcare Surfaces Summit was founded to build bridges between the silos of expertise all of whom were working on varying aspects of the same problem.  A design cannot just be created, initiated and executed by architects, designers, engineers, builders, without input from clinicians, specialists, scientists, manufacturers, advocates, and educators. When manufacturers develop new products to solve a specific problem without input from the healthcare professionals that will be responsible for the care and maintenance of them, then the product often never sees the inside of a healthcare setting. Professionals that are in daily contact with patients have a different level of understanding and knowledge of infection prevention as it relates to healthcare surfaces. At this year’s event we will ensure all key stakeholders are at the same table for discussions to provide invaluable insight and knowledge of protocols and process for cleaning and disinfection and the process for selecting products and surface materials.

New sponsorship levels, with the addition of a healthcare professional membership, will open the door for deep-dive discussions and project development and planning. Our goal is to develop long-term, sustainable solutions and end users are critical to success for all groups.

The Healthcare Surfaces Institute is a collaboration of stake-holders adamant about reducing risks for patients, healthcare workers and the general public and the delivery of a healthcare free from harm. This collaboration includes: infection preventionists, epidemiologists, infectious disease experts, scientists, facilities directors, engineers, occupational health and safety experts, architects working in healthcare, manufacturing, academia, government standards setting and non-profit organizations. Everyone is focused on creating measurers, metrics, standards, research, outreach and education to reduce preventable infections by interrupting the transmission of surface-related pathogens in healthcare in support of community health.