Comanche County Memorial Hospital is an independent, non-profit, acute care facility in Lawton, Okla. As the largest healthcare facility in Southwestern Oklahoma with 283 licensed beds, 2,000 employees, 250 physicians and approximately 100 volunteers, Comanche County Memorial Hospital provides care to more than 52,000 patients each year.
Its provider medical group, Memorial Medical Group, is comprised of more than 100 local physicians and providers spanning 17 different medical specialties.
Comanche County Memorial Hospital has received many awards for its well-known heart center, the first of its kind in the region, and for its dedication to patient satisfaction and clinical excellence. Most recently, the hospital has been recognized for delivering a high quality of patient care with the 2013 National Research Corporation's Consumer Choice Award, the 2015 Women's Choice Award as one of America's Best Hospitals for Heart Care and a Readers' Choice Favorite Hospital Award for eight consecutive years.
Introduction
Comanche County Memorial Hospital, a busy healthcare facility serving many different patient populations, is well known in the region as a top-level heart care center. For the last 25 years, the hospital has maintained the only comprehensive heart program in Southwestern Oklahoma. The center, The Heart Center of Southwest Oklahoma, and its staff have won numerous awards for providing a high quality of care.
Comanche County Memorial Hospital is also highly regarded for its Center for Sleep Medicine, Cancer Care Center and its Women's Health Services department, which includes the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in Southwest Oklahoma, the first of its kind in the region. In addition, the hospital houses Diabetes Services, Emergency Care, Stroke Care and Center for Wound Care & Hyperbaric Medicine departments, with its physicians performing more than 2,500 inpatient and 3,600 outpatient surgeries each year.
Given the wide range of patient services that the hospital offers and the increase in the number of cases of Ebola virus, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium difficile worldwide, Comanche County Memorial Hospital wanted to augment its already existing infection control measures. While the hospital's infection control protocols were highly successful, leadership at Comanche County Memorial Hospital sought to add an even higher level of protection from hospital-acquired infections for its patients, in addition to terminal chemical cleaning and other already existing infection control methods.
"The recent Ebola threat here in the United States has accelerated the need to use all means necessary in protecting patients from hospital-acquired infections," said Infection Control Preventionist Danny Vardeman. "As a regional healthcare leader, we owe it to our patients to employ all available technologies in reducing HAIs."
Comanche County Memorial Hospital sought a solution that can eliminate pathogens on surfaces and decontaminate the air. The hospital wanted to concentrate implementing added infection control measures in its operating rooms, emergency room, catheterization labs, dialysis rooms and in its C. difficile rooms, with possible additional expansion of use to extend to other hospital areas and campuses in the future.
Challenges
Given the large number of inpatient and outpatient surgeries performed at the hospital, Comanche County Memorial required a decontamination solution that is quick and easy to use. As a major healthcare provider in the region with many outpatient services, the hospital needed the solution to be not only efficient, but also safe for its environmental services staff to use on a daily basis and for patients who enter rooms immediately following decontamination. The hospital intended to train staff from multiple departments to use the new system and therefore needed a solution that requires limited amounts of time for training and that is easy to use.
In addition, Comanche County Memorial Hospital wanted a decontamination system that is mobile. The hospital planned to move the decontamination system from department to department and from room to room as needed and according to priority. As a result, Comanche County Memorial sought a physically small but extremely powerful system to use throughout its facilities.
"Infection control plays a huge role in the quality of care provided to our patients," said Kim Holland, senior director of nursing operations at Comanche County Memorial Hospital. "We needed an infection control system with a high efficacy rate to take our infection control practices to a higher level."
The hospital also sought a decontamination system that featured easy-to-use reporting features, as hospitals are now required to report infection control practices to state and federal government regulatory agencies, in addition to infection rates.
The solution
After spending a year researching and testing ultraviolet light-C decontamination systems, Comanche County Hospital chose Spectra254's Spectra 1000 Series decontamination systems to bring its patients, staff and visitors increased protection against HAIs. The Spectra 1000 Series destroys HAIs by using eight high-output UVC bulbs to eliminate pathogens on surfaces and decontaminate the air at a rate of 250 cubic feet per minute.
Independent laboratory testing shows the Spectra 1000 Series decontamination system to be 99.9 percent effective in killing C.difficile spores, MRSA and Ebola-like viruses on surfaces at up to ten feet in distance and in five minutes. The high efficacy rate of the Spectra 1000 Series devices meets Comanche County Memorial Hospital's requirement for a highly effective infection control system. The Spectra 1000 Series' quick decontamination time and the mobility of the unit also meets the hospital's need for a fast-working system that allows high turnover in patient, surgical and treatment rooms.
The Spectra 1000 Series system includes barcoding to aid the hospital's decontamination reporting process. This feature allows staff to use bar code labels at the doorframe of each room to expedite data entry of the time, day, room number and operator ID for each room serviced. In doing so, not only is the potential for human error eliminated, the time-savings in the data entry process results in a faster turnaround time per room and on the daily schedule.
In addition, the systems can be easily operated using two different methods, including a one-touch remote control and a tablet controller. The handheld one-touch remote control is designed for the novice environmental services operator and other medical staff for the quick sanitation of an operating room, isolation room or patient waiting room. Just like a standard television remote control, its uses one button to start the system for a five, 10 or 15 minute cycle time. In addition, when equipped with the Spectra data collection system, the unit can be programmed for use by the onboard touch screen tablet.
"We tried four or five different ultraviolet light decontamination devices during our vetting process," said Jerrod Copeland, Comanche County Memorial Hospital's environmental services project director. "We chose Spectra254's systems because they are mobile, highly-effective and easy to use. Also, the remote control feature and motion detector make the technology safe for both our patients and staff."
The future
Due to the successful addition of the Spectra 1000 Series systems to Comanche County Memorial Hospital's infection control protocols, the hospital is planning to expand use of the systems to include other areas of its facilities. Hospital leaders are particular pleased with the speed with which the Spectra254 devices decontaminate patient and operating rooms. According to Vardeman, the Spectra 1000 systems give not only patients piece of mind, but also healthcare workers, too.
Comanche County Memorial is the first hospital in Southwestern Oklahoma to use ultraviolet light technology for infection control. Hospital officials say they expect other healthcare facilities to follow in the footsteps of C.C.M.H. and to adopt the technology as well, as news of the hospital's successful use of Spectra 1000 Series systems spreads across the region's medical community.
Sanford Green is Spectra254's Senior Executive. He has been with the company since its inception. His previous experience includes leadership positions in the video, fiber optics, software and security industries.