MountainView Hospital first in Nevada to use Xenex’s room disinfection device

Jun 21 2012

In an ongoing effort to improve patient safety, MountainView Hospital today announced it is the first hospital in Nevada to use Xenex Healthcare Services' innovative germ-zapping room disinfection technology to keep patients even safer from infections.    

"We're dedicated to a culture of safety for our patients," said Will Wagnon, Chief Executive Officer at MountainView Hospital. "We are continuously striving to eliminate the transmission of infections by adhering to best practices, increasing surveillance - and now by using the advanced technology of UV room disinfection."

Xenex's portable room disinfection device pulses blue ultraviolet light throughout MountainView's isolation rooms, Intensive Care Units (ICUs), and Emergency Department (ED) to quickly destroy viruses, bacteria and bacterial spores - typically in about 5-10 minutes per room. Uniquely designed for ease of use and portability, MountainView is using the Xenex device in rooms after they have been thoroughly cleaned by housekeeping staff.

"We're always looking for innovative ways to provide even better, safer care for our community," remarked Jan Olivas, Patient Safety Officer at MountainView Hospital. "We are committed to providing the best possible care for every patient — and that means making sure they don't acquire an infection while in the hospital."

MountainView Hospital is a customer of Sodexo Inc., a world leader in healthcare environmental services management which delivers infection control best practices to patients. Sodexo selected Xenex as its preferred partner for disinfection of Sodexo client facilities in 2011.

"Our housekeepers currently follow Center for Disease Control and state DOH protocol when cleaning patient rooms and they do a good job," said Eileen Kennedy, Sodexo Director of Environmental Services at MountainView Hospital. "Xenex will support those efforts by providing our patients with an extra measure of disinfection," she added.

Xenex systems are currently in use by hospitals throughout the U.S. and have proven to be effective against a variety of the most dangerous superbugs, including Clostridium difficile endospores (C. diff), MRSA, VRE and Acinetobacter. Studies show the Xenex room disinfection system is consistently 20 times more effective than standard chemical cleaning practices.

"We have heard repeatedly from our customers across the U.S. that our device is enabling them to save patient lives because we are eliminating the deadly superbugs which cause infections," said Dr. Mark Stibich, Chief Scientific Officer of Xenex. "Our device can disinfect patient rooms in just a matter of minutes, which means that we fit into a hospital's day-to-day operations, which is unlike any other technology on the market today."

Xenex's UV light room disinfection technology will help MountainView Hospital further reduce the presence of bacteria - including C. diff - a stubborn bacteria that's been on the rise in hospitals across the country in recent years. The C. diff germ can be found in the community and can be transmitted when a patient is in any health care facility, including a hospital or a nursing home. C. diff is a bacterium that causes inflammation of the colon and can live in the environment for months.

"Because it's protected by a hard coating, a microorganism like C. diff requires an even stronger weapon than standard hospital cleaning products," said Dr. Stibich. "Our patented pulsed xenon UV light disinfection technology penetrates the shell and eliminates the C. diff spore in just a couple of minutes, which makes it feasible for everyday use throughout an entire facility," he added.