HomeNews & TopicsInfection ControlBacteria-killing robot joins St. Joe’s cleaning team

Bacteria-killing robot joins St. Joe’s cleaning team

Published on

By Amber Daugherty

When you visit the hospital, you’re there to get healthy – not to catch something that makes you sicker. But more than 220,000 people get hospital-acquired infections every year in Canada because of being in close proximity to others who are ill. It’s important that healthcare teams continue to evolve their cleaning practices to prevent the spread of bacteria in hospitals so that patients recover faster and staff members stay healthy.

At St. Joseph’s Health Centre Toronto, our environmental services team has introduced a new piece of equipment that’s radically changing the cleaning game. After manually cleaning the room using best practices, our team wheels a machine called the Tru-D SmartUVC (or “Trudi”) into the room. It uses sensors to calculate how much time it will take to disinfect the room, looking at factors including overall size and objects in the room. Once everyone is out, the door is closed and the machine delivers a precise dose of UVC light that’s known to kill bacteria including influenza, norovirus, C. diff, MRSA and others that can spread through hospital environments.

: Carlo Sebasta and Blagica Bosevka have gone through specialized training to use the UVC cleaner to disinfect rooms at St. Joe’s.

“Introducing technology like Trudi is incredible because it acts as an additional layer on top of the cleaning practices we already have in place,” said Michael Rotstein, Infection Prevention and Control Manager. “It allows us to guarantee our patients and staff that we’re taking an extra step to protect their health.”

How does it work?

When UVC light hits bacteria, it essentially deactivates it, making the bacteria unable to infect or reproduce. Because of the machine’s unique design, it’s able to cover every inch in a space, even bouncing around corners and underneath equipment – so it can clean an entire room without having to be moved.

“Our staff are specially trained to use this piece of equipment,” said Carlo Sebasta, Environmental Services Supervisor. “And while we’re currently using it in patient rooms, we’re also working on getting it into the Operating Room to do a final disinfection after the suites have been cleaned at the end of the day.”

The machine is also being used to clean equipment that’s shared by staff, including mobile work stations and patient tools and supports including wheelchairs and walkers – items that can often be the culprit for diseases spreading between patients in a hospital setting.

“When patients are in hospital, they’re impacted by the spaces that they receive care in,” says Sebasta, “so we want to make sure their rooms and any equipment that’s being used on or around them are also contributing to their recovery.”

Amber Daugherty is a Communications Associate at St. Joseph’s Health Centre Toronto.

Latest articles

The Canadian Consensus Statement on the management of venous leg ulcers

This Consensus Statement was developed with the objective of creating a concise document that...

A pathway to independence for patients with rare disease

Nearly 20 years ago, Audrey Gouskos came through the St. Michael’s Hospital Emergency Department...

Robotic-assisted rehabilitation now available in Fraser Health

Stroke patient Leanne Mork is learning to walk again with the assistance of a...

Helping Canada Design Health Care Facilities for Future Needs

Health care facilities (HCFs) play an important role in communities, providing a safe, secure,...

More like this

Child undernutrition may be contributing to global measles outbreaks, researchers find

Amid a global surge in measles cases, new research suggests that undernutrition may be...

Research suggests link between COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and increasing uncertainty in routine vaccines for young children

A study published last week, Parental Factors Associated With Measles–Mumps–Rubella Vaccination in US Children Younger...

Are anxiety and depression useful predictors of heart disease risk?

Adding measures of anxiety and depression to a commonly used cardiovascular risk predictor would...

Provinces need to come together now to make pharmacare a reality for all Canadians

With a federal election looming, we need swift action to make pharmacare a reality...

The role of healthcare in mitigating the climate crisis

The role of healthcare in mitigating the climate crisis By Wendy Levinson Canada signed the historic...

New Institute of Urologic Sciences launches in Vancouver

The M. H. Mohseni Institute of Urologic Sciences has officially launched within the Vancouver...