Environment of Care, Construction and Remediation
30/30 Education Session - 30 minutes
Charles Ash, BS, MT(ASCP), MBA, CIC
Infection Preventionist
Gwinnett Medical Center
Lawrenceville, Georgia
Nothing to disclose
Beth Wallace, MPH, CIC, FAPIC
Senior Director, System Infection Prevention & Epidemiology
Beaumont Health
Rochester Hills, Michigan
Nothing to disclose
Construction and renovation of healthcare facilities can present unique IPC risks even in short, simple projects. IPs play an important role on the construction team in assessing projects and overseeing mitigation practices to reduce the risk of infection in patients and staff. Despite this, construction and renovation are not areas in which most IPs have training, with only 4.9% of respondents in the 2015 APIC MegaSurvey reporting formal education related to the environment of care.
IPs involved in construction and renovation projects may find themselves as an ignored consultant on one hand, or as an unexpected project manager on the other. This session will provide an overview of what the IP’s role should be in construction projects, and help participants learn how they can become valued members of a multidisciplinary team in any healthcare setting.
Session topics include:
• Reviewing key players within the healthcare organization that the IP should know before any construction project begins.
• The language used by these players and their goals and ways an IP can bring these various roles together.
• Conflict management and relationship building techniques that can be used when issues inevitably show up.
Throughout the session, participants will get resources that all IPs can use to help build a strong, successful multidisciplinary team to increase patient and employee safety in any facility.