The Joint Commission Survey Update

We had our “long awaited” Joint Commission Survey the beginning of this week. It seemed like forever, waiting for them to arrive… not really. While it might have seemed like a long time, it really was just another week for a hospital that prides itself on being the best possible caregiver to meet the physical,…

Principles and Traits for Leading Environmental Services Today

Successful leadership in healthcare environmental services requires constant vigilance, ongoing education, willingness to identify opportunities for improvement in ourselves first, and staff second. In that spirit I share 11 principles and 14 traits for leading in this ever changing environment.

Resonant Leadership

Resonant Leaders engage us. They evoke positive emotions and inspire us through their positive thoughts and clear vision. Leaders develop their resonance through compassion, hope, mindfulness and they maintain their resonance. Is it any wonder this leads to increased revenue in an organization? Leaders of all kinds possess these abilities. However, their level of emotional…

Just Another Day? I Don’t Think So

Sure it seems like a never ending cycle of cutbacks, reductions and expectations to do more with less. Some hospitals reach the breaking point sooner because they have been more efficient to begin with. Eventually even the over-staffed facilities will feel the challenge to keep up. Patient satisfaction scores are one measure of performance. While…

Schedule and Procedures Part 1

Housekeeping schedules should be planned, written and closely followed. Cleaning schedules should be developed according to the needs of each area. Without written routines and schedules your productivity and customer satisfaction are going to go up and down more often then a roller coaster.

Healthcare Cleaning

The major difference between cleaning a medical facility and any other building is the focus on the un-seen enemy, bacteria. Environmental Service’s job is to not only provide good visible results, but to reduce the number of surface bacteria to a safe level in order to control cross infection. This is an extremely important responsibility…

Cleaning Specifications and Standards Part 2

Here I continue to list cleaning standards. We use these as a guide to understanding our responsibilities in general cleaning. This is not meant to be a complete list, rather a broad overview. Enjoy your reading:

Cleaning Specifications and Standards Part 1

Environmental Services (ES) is important to any business because the visible cleaning results create the first impression of a visitor or customer. You’ve probably heard that “the first impression is a lasting one” and there is a great deal of truth in that. Our job is to make that first impression a good one. In…

Foundation and Principles of Environmental Services

Cleaning and maintaining the built environment of a healthcare facility, or a building where healthcare services are delivered is driven largely by regulations and guidelines. These include regulations set forth by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA), The Joint Commission (TJC), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), state and local agencies such…

Welcome to Healthcare Environmental Services

In Environmental Services, we are aware that first impression of our facility is very important to our clients and other staff, so we strive daily to provide a clean, safe and attractive environment. We also ensure that patient rooms are cleaned to the highest level to prevent cross contamination. The hospital, staff and patient depend…