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& Healthcare Hygiene magazine invited representatives from the Healthcare Laundry Accreditation Council ( HLAC ), the Textile Rental Service Association ( TRSA ), and the American Reusable Textile Association ( ARTA ) to provide perspectives on laundry-related imperatives . Our experts are :
Healthcare Textiles Roundtable : Experts Address the Role of Healthcare Textiles and Laundry in Infection Prevention
Gregory Gicewicz , president and CEO , Sterile Surgical Systems , on behalf of HLAC
Nancy Jenkins , executive director , American Reusable Textile Association ( ARTA )
David Potack , president of Unitex Healthcare Linen Services , Elmsford , N . Y ., on behalf of TRSA
Liz Remillong , vice president of strategic Alliances for Crothall Healthcare , Scottsdale , Ariz ., on behalf of TRSA
organ in the human body , the skin . Therefore , pathogens found on healthcare textiles can infect immune compromised hospital patients resulting in sickness and even death . Hospital staff handling or wearing contaminated attire can also pass this contamination onto hospital patients . While documented cases of healthcare textiles infecting patients are rare , they have occurred . Another risk is incorrect chemistry or chemical residue from improperly laundered healthcare textiles . This can cause skin reactions in patients and hospital staff .
Remillong : Textiles pay a significant role in infection prevention . The average patient in the hospital spends over 90 percent of their time in or on textiles processed by a healthcare laundry . Given the higher morbidity of inpatient settings compared with outpatient , it ’ s critical in hospitals that textiles are hygienically clean and do not compromise the healing process .
HHM What role does healthcare textiles play in infection prevention and control ?
Gicewicz : Textiles play a pivotal role in infection prevention and control , both with hospital patients and with hospital staff . Healthcare textiles are in constant contact with the largest
HHM What are some of the knowledge / practice gaps that exist around healthcare textiles in healthcare institutions and how can these be addressed on the clinical side and on the laundry side ?
Gicewicz : Healthcare textiles must be a central part of