It’s not a competition, but there’s no denying that the events of 2020 hit healthcare workers harder than most. Attempts to “flatten the curve” of the COVID-19 pandemic were somewhat successful in preventing hospitals from exceeding capacity. Still, the prolonged and novel nature of this development nevertheless pushed the healthcare industry to its limit. Fortunately, the highly effective vaccines that came to light at the end of 2020 will help bring this pandemic to an end and allow life to gradually return to normal. For now, though, healthcare facilities across the country (and the world) must do their best to continue treating COVID-19 patients and pick up the pieces of a hectic and tragic 2020.
After such a busy year, here are some ways you might refresh your healthcare facility for brighter days.
The floors in any given healthcare center can quickly become hotbeds for dirt, debris, bacteria, and tripping hazards if not well-maintained, which is why floor cleaning should be a top priority for your facility. Indeed, the cleaning guidelines for healthcare facilities require that all surfaces (including floors) get cleaned at various intervals to prevent contaminants from affecting staff and patients. In other words, your healthcare facility likely has a rigid floor cleaning schedule in place already. Still, 2021 is the perfect time to take floor maintenance more seriously than ever — all of last year’s activity might have done a number on your floors, leading to more wear and tear than usual. Solid, squeaky clean floors aren’t just safer and more hygienic for everyone inside — they also improve your facility’s atmosphere, which positively affects all employees, patients, and guests.
Like floor cleaning, window cleaning should be a regular part of your healthcare maintenance regimen. However, all the additional goings-on of 2020 might have left your windows on the back burner. This year, take the time to reinvigorate your window washing routine, tackling the exterior and interior panes alike. Keeping your windows clean will allow more natural light to pour into your facility, improve patient experience, and reduce the amount of dirt, dust, and other contaminants inside your building.
Of course, your facility’s floors and windows aren’t the only surfaces that likely require your attention after a turbulent 2020. You must do your best to uphold certain cleaning standards in healthcare overall. As patient occupancy steadily declines, you should spend more time, energy, and resources in disinfecting and deep cleaning offices, lobbies, cafeterias, and more — something which might have been more challenging when most of your rooms were simultaneously occupied. To aid in the execution of these efforts, create a strategy/schedule that ensures each and every area of your healthcare facility is properly cleaned on a regular basis. Streamlining your cleaning and disinfection efforts in this way will keep you compliant with all relevant guidelines and help keep your staff and patients safe and healthy.
Boosting your healthcare cleaning endeavors isn’t the only way to refresh your facility. If your occupancy, time, and budget allow, repainting your building inside and out can have a major impact on the lives of your patients, employees, and guests. It’s worth noting that healthcare painting projects are more complex than most other commercial painting projects. For one thing, certain specialty coatings are often required for healthcare interiors to minimize the threat of contamination, toxic chemicals, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Moreover, this type of project usually must occur in several disparate chunks to not interfere with the facility’s operations or its people, making scheduling an uphill battle. Despite these challenges, though, every healthcare facility will eventually require a fresh coat of paint. When that time comes, working with an experienced contractor can significantly reduce the headaches and hassle.
It may take several years for the healthcare sector to fully recover from the effects of 2020, but it’s worth taking those first steps to revitalize your facility. We at The Budd Group are here to help you do just that through our healthcare cleaning services (where we focus on lobbies, cafeterias, and offices), landscaping contracts, disinfection offerings, maintenance support, facility management services, and more.
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