Hand Hygiene Relay draws participants from around CKL

Ross Memorial Hospital is grateful to all who participated in today’s Hand Hygiene Relay. The relay involved staff, physicians, volunteers, patients, visitors, board members and community partners and stretched from the fourth floor to the main lobby.

Good hand hygiene is the single most important way for people to control the spread of germs. Regular hand washing decreases hospital-acquired infections by up to 40%.

The goal of the relay was to raise public awareness of the importance of clean hands in the hospital environment, and to integrate the community into the hospital’s safety initiative.

“I’m so pleased at how well it went,” said Dr. Bert Lauwers, RMH President and CEO, who kicked off the Hand Hygiene Relay at 10:30am. “We really didn’t know how many people to expect. We wondered if we’d have enough participants to stretch the line through the hospital. It was wonderful to see.”

In total, 349 people took part in the Ross Memorial’s Hand Hygiene Relay.

“We didn’t break the world record, but we certainly set the bar for other hospitals in Ontario,” said Leanne Harding, Manager of Infection Prevention & Control. “For us, seeing that many people in the hospital take part in a patient safety initiative is a great success.”