Even in the most proactive hospitals, bacteria can survive on surfaces for weeks and even months. Simply by installing antimicrobial copper touch surfaces, hospitals across the US are now supplementing their infection control programmes, and Grinnell Regional Medical Centre is the first to share its expertise on the benefits and ease of boosting hygiene with copper.
Copper is known to be a powerful antimicrobial with rapid, broad-spectrum efficacy against bacteria and viruses, and has been shown to kill the pathogens that cause infections, including Influenza A, E.coli and norovirus. It works in between routine cleans and requires no additional staff training or special maintenance. It shares this benefit with copper alloys — such as brasses and bronzes — forming a family of materials collectively called ‘antimicrobial copper’.
Grinnell Regional Medical Centre — the largest hospital in Iowa, with 49 beds and serving 40,000 residents — has begun installing antimicrobial copper touch surfaces as a boost to existing infection prevention and control measures.
Todd Linden, CEO of Grinnell, says: ‘A wonderful thing about copper is it’s doing its job to kill bacteria 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and so at the end of the day when I go home, I know we’ve got a new ally for fighting the potential for infection in our hospital, and that makes me feel great.’
Adam Estelle, a project engineer with Copper Development Association in the US, says: ‘I think hospital staff have been very impressed by antimicrobial copper’s beauty and ease of maintenance, which is one of the reasons why hospitals across North America have begun installing this scientifically proven bacteria killing metal.’
Two videos featuring Grinnell — Installing Antimicrobial Copper Components and Cleaning and Maintaining Antimicrobial Copper Surfaces — have been created to help educate hospital executives and their staff on the benefits and ease of installing antimicrobial copper components.
They can be accessed below:
