Pediatric Hospital Installs Antimicrobial Copper
Roberto del Rio Children's Hospital - the oldest pediatric
facility in Chile - has installed Antimicrobial Copper surfaces in
its intensive care and treatment rooms. The initiative was
developed in conjunction with the Chilean Ministry of Health, and
aims to revolutionize hospital hygiene standards using surfaces
that have been shown to continuously reduce microbial contamination
by greater than 90%. The installation is a first for Latin
America, following a growing number of installations in Europe,
Asia and North America.
"We are proud to unveil the first antimicrobial touch surfaces
in our hospital," said Doctor Ignacio Hernandez, Director of
Roberto del Rio. "This initiative will benefit children who
are hospitalized in critical conditions as they will be in a
healthier environment."
Surfaces upgraded to antimicrobial copper include bed rails,
trolleys, taps, hand rails and door furniture. All products
bear the Cu+ mark, certifying that all the copper alloys used
benefit from copper's inherent ability to rapidly kill bacteria,
viruses and fungi 24/7, in between regular cleans.
Doctor Michael Schmidt, leader of the three-centre US trial, has
said of Roberto del Rio: "These are among the best public
facilities using Antimicrobial Copper I've seen. I hope this
initiative will be replicated by many health services around the
world."
Installation of Antimicrobial Copper items in every room in the
intensive care and treatment units will be completed in the second
half of 2012.
