In a recent interview on the Health Facilities Management website, Patti Costello, executive director of the Association for the Healthcare Environment (AHE), talked about the future of AHE and environmental services professionals.
According to the interview, AHE's strategic plan includes such themes as shaping professional practice, advancing and promoting environmental services (ES), and increasing awareness of both the organization and the profession.
One challenge ES professionals face is the pace at which change is occurring in the industry.
"ES teams are under pressure to turn rooms more quickly and care for the environment with fewer resources. There doesn't seem to be widespread acknowledgement of the data that support the environment as key to improved satisfaction scores and outcomes with respect to reducing infection rates," Costello said.
Another challenge, she said, are the many secondary roles and responsibilities added to ES director jobs, such as grounds, sustainability, safety, patient transport and fleet management.
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