Unions Emphasize Imortance of Cleaning Hospital Rooms

By Darcy Cheek - Staff Writer

Brockville General Hospital and St. Vincent de Paul Hospital joined an Ontariowide campaign Tuesday to spread awareness about the threat of hospital-acquired infections or superbugs.

Housekeeping staff at the two hospitals took part in a demonstration - launched by the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU) and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) - with a mobile hospital room set up at the Memorial Centre to highlight the importance of proper cleaning to reduce the risk of spreading infection disease.

"We've been trying to get the attention of the Ministry of Health about this serious problem," said Michael Hurley, president of OCHU/CUPE at the Memorial Centre on Tuesday.

Recent outbreaks of VRE and MRSA at 2 Niagara region hospitals and an MRSA infection at Kingston General where 30 patients were place in isolation after contracting the bacterium prompted CUPE to take its message on the road.

Hurley said hospitals forced to find efficiencies by cutting cleaning staff is a dangerous precedent in an age where these "superbugs" are becoming more prevalent.

"We could save 2000 lives if we pay more attention", said Hurley, referring to figures he said make infectious diseases the 4th biggest killer in Canada.

Housekeeping Aides Darlene Robertson of Brockville General Hospital and Debbie Greenwell of St. Vincent de Paul Hospital demonstrated the time and care it takes to clean and rid and isolation room of and infectious disease like MRSA or VRE.

It can take up to 3 hours for 2 housekeeping aides, cleaning and disinfecting every exposed inch of a room and bathroom to completely rid the space of an infectious disease.

Representatives from both Brockville hospitals stressed the need to retain or augment housekeeping staff with the rise of incidents of infectious disease.


Published in section A, page 4 in the Wednesday, July 20, 2005 edition of the Brockville Recorder and Times.