These are unprecedented times. We're here to help.
Crothall and Compass One Healthcare responded to COVID-19 with new products, new protocols and new ideas but COVID-19 was not the first coronavirus and may not be the last. Make sure you're ready for what's to come.
Crothall Healthcare and the entire Compass One Healthcare family are taking all the necessary steps to address the impact of COVID-19 on our healthcare partners. We are committed to ensuring a safe environment for our patients, caregivers, and associates. To that end, we are following the guidance provided by the CDC, WHO, and other health authorities. As healthcare providers across the country continue to battle the coronavirus, we understand that we are all in this together. Everyone must participate to make this work. We understand.
You and your Staff are on the front lines and we are supporting you in every one of our services. Whether we are serving patient food, disinfecting patient rooms and public areas in acute or ambulatory sites, transporting patients, maintaining biomedical and imaging equipment, keeping your facility operating at peak performance, sterilizing surgical instruments or processing your laundry we are there when you need us.
We will “stop the spread” together. Believe it.
Crothall helped transform the Javits Center into a temporary hospital and continues to support on-going needs to help in the city's fight against COVID-19. Read about lessons learned to help lead your team through a similar situation.
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As you continue to help your hospital adjust for surges in patient volume, or prepare temporary facilities, consider these best practices to manage any of your healthcare facilities.
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As you continue moving patients throughout your hospital during the pandemic, consider these best practices to limit exposure and support your nursing staff.
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This crisis is different than any other we've faced, yet healthcare heroes continue to tap deeper into their purpose to help our nation's communities heal.
ReadCrothall Environmental Services is on the front line supporting your Clinical Staff. We've always been about the right people, right products and right protocols. During times like these, we want to make sure you're able to create a safer environment that feels comfortable to everyone through The Power of Clean. Here are a few things we’ve learned.
Stretch critical resources like masks by using Surfacide UV-C machines. Masks should be grouped and marked in such a way so that they are returned to the original user, safely bagged and transported to a room inside the hospital which is equipped with 3 ultraviolet light towers.
Some support service functions may experience lower volumes of work during the COVID-19 crisis. To keep up with a higher demand for cleaning, consider temporarily redeploying associates from other departments after receiving training to support EVS. We’re all better together.
Many patients’ healthcare experiences are scarier than normal as hospitals are forced to limit families from entering their facilities. The perception of a clean healing environment can be comforting to patients who are having to go through treatment alone. Use signs within your hospital and digital communications (social media, website, patient portal, etc.) to tell patients what you're doing to keep them safe if and when they do arrive.
During a pandemic it can be tempting to clean all areas with equal vigor. However, with many hospitals experiencing limited staffing and financial resources, focusing deep healthcare-grade cleaning to the most critical and highly trafficked areas is advised.
As hospitals adjust for surges in patient volume, FM can help make sure existing rooms
are safely converted for COVID-19 patients, and help your hospital prepare additional
bed space. Whether it's a pop up hospital or other temporary facility, try some of these
best practices at your hospital.
The rate at which the coronavirus is spreading differs by city and state, but all hospitals should have a plan to convert regular patient rooms to negative pressure rooms. Be sure to explore other spaces that can be converted for COVID-patient care. With stringent restrictions on guest entry, some hospitals have transformed lobbies into airborne isolated rooms. These adjustments also benefit hospital staff who feel more secure once these adjustments are made.
As the epicenter of the virus shifts to different cities throughout the country pop up hospitals and medical tents will be crucial for treating patients. Getting these alternative medical sites up and running is made possible through strong relationships and regular communication with local and federal agencies. Set up regular meetings with local and national officials to streamline communication and decision-making processes. Need help? Reach out to us to learn how we helped hospitals in New York.
Develop a staffing contingency plan in case your FM department needs to operate with fewer people. Include guidelines for preventive and corrective work order management, and a guide to reducing staff in 25% increments. Make sure it covers the potential to supplement FM staff with vendors or temp agencies.
For prolonged crises like COVID-19, hospitals cannot afford to lose an entire management team within any department due to exposure. Split management teams into A & B groups: while one group is "on shift" at the hospital, the "off shift" group can work remotely to handle admin tasks. Splitting teams can prevent a whole department from being exposed at the same time and ensures 24/7 support also.
COVID-19 is placing enormous demands on healthcare facility's oxygen supply systems. The current treatment process heavily taxes both the bulk and cylinder supply. Ensuring your hospital's systems are in the best operating condition is crucial to getting through these days. Reach out to your vendors and supplier to ensure you're prepared.
Many construction projects can and should be postponed during a crisis. Staff previously managing those projects can redeploy to Facilities Management to help build up needed headcount to support a 24/7 operation.
Patient transporters are uniquely trained in infection prevention and safe handling of patients, plus they know your hospital’s layout like the back of their hand. Here are a few tips to leverage your hospital’s PT department beyond transporting patients to support your nurses.
Some high-risk patients require supervision 24/7. During a pandemic, hospitals and their support services teams should do everything possible to relive nurses from observation duty so they can treat others who are sick. Shift some patient transportation staff to patient observation to look after high-risk and COVID-positive patients.
Under normal circumstances, when patients arrive at a hospital’s front entrance, patient transporters move them from their car to inside the hospital. To limit exposure, redeploy transporters who typically provide curb-side service to help elsewhere. Transporters can help nurses with patient temperature checks, documenting information, or other tasks the caregivers need.
Hospital medical staff and patient transportation teams can work together to set up PPE command centers. A command center, or one central location where all PPE is collected and distributed prevents inefficient use of precious PPE. When someone requests additional PPE, patient transporters can deliver it throughout the hospital, and because their job requires them to know the most efficient routes, they’re a perfect candidate to quickly get PPE to whoever needs it.
Crothall’s clinical engineering division provides management, oversight and maintenance of all medical devices and technologies in hospitals across the county. Clinical engineers work with caregivers to ensure that clean and safe equipment is available for nurses when they need it. Easing nurse frustration has never been more important. Test these clinical engineering best practices at your hospital so nurses can get what they need to keep saving lives during this crisis.
Make sure a representative from your hospital’s clinical engineering team is included on the appropriate COVID-19 task forces. As COVID-19 continues to impact equipment availability, including ventilators, your hospital’s clinical engineers can provide critical information about new equipment, deployment and maintenance.
Utilize Crothall’s Team Trace computer maintenance management system
(CMMS) to identify and track equipment designated for COVID-only use.
Special COVID-only coding in Team Trace can help your hospital easily
track COVID inventory and make important decisions quickly as your
hospital’s equipment needs change.
Ensure all equipment coming into biomedical engineering workshops and storage areas is disinfected and cleaned on arrival and segregated in the designated shop clean equipment area.
As the situation evolves quickly and with varying degrees of severity
across the country, daily reports can help hospital leaders keep tabs
on what equipment is available, where it’s located, and what might
need to be rented to make up the difference.
Keep communication channels open with patients and customers open by relating important updates through signage, patient portal or digital communications.
Offer daily infection control and medical-related updates for department leadership to cascade to staff. Record updates and post to your intranet.
Schedule recurring virtual staff meetings or huddles. Involve system leadership and context experts to develop an action plan, share best practices and updates. Also use this time to debunk any rumors that may have popped up to ease anxiety.
Get the most up-to-date information about COVID-19.
visit the cdc
Read more about the World Health Organization's response to COVID-10 and find online resources.
Visit the WHOGet in touch with your emotions and learn how to manage feelings of grief during these uncertain times and the monumental changes to our lives.
readUnlock the secrets of lifting employees and customers alike with this
heartwarming approach.
Discover the power of gratitude and how you can empower your teams with
small acts of kindness.
Get a copy of our COVID-19 Resources + our white paper on Infection Prevention. Share them with your teams and use each as a reference while you continue to lead your hospital through these days. Fill out the form so we can send them over to you.
Don't hesitate to drop us a line if you have questions about this resource or need help with something specific at your hospital.
Have ideas on best practices? We'd love to hear how your healthcare teams are approaching the battle against COVID-19.
Morrison Healthcare, the healthcare foodservice experts can help. Check
out their COVID-19 foodservice resources.
Crothall is the premier healthcare support services provider nationwide. Crothall and Morrison are unified under Compass One Healthcare. Each of Compass One Healthcare's 8 services offered a unique, specialized solution applying protocols learned in more than 2,138 locations through a combined 90 years of healthcare-only experience.
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