The Healthcare Surfaces Summit, the industry’s leading nonprofit focused on the prevention of surface-related pathogens, announced today details of its 3rd annual national meeting taking place Tuesday, August 21 to Wednesday August 22, at the newly renovated Renaissance Minneapolis Bloomington in Bloomington, Minn.

“We are looking forward to a very productive meeting as we bring together industry professionals and thought leaders to develop holistic solutions that work together to prevent the spread of hospital-acquired infections via surfaces,” said Linda Lybert, Executive Director of the Healthcare Surfaces Summit. “With recent news stories of lethal HAIs like H1N1, H3N2, staphylococcus, and Ebola becoming more prevalent in our nation’s medical facilities, it is critical to break down the silos of expertise and build bridges that will bring everyone together to develop innovative solutions that provide effective systems that work. The Summit brings together a collaborative group of professionals and provides a think tank approach to develop testing methods that will scientifically validate solutions that can effectively be implemented for providing life-saving strategies for their facilities and surfaces.”

Founded in 2015, the Healthcare Surfaces Summit started as a collaboration of health care industry professionals concerned about the rise of hospital-acquired infections in their facilities. Initiatives and working groups were created to develop new industry standards and utilization, conduct infectious disease research, and to collaborate with manufacturers on surface materials and textiles, disinfectants and address surface compatibility issues. Participants include manufacturing and engineering professionals, infection prevention experts, facilities management executives, environmental services groups, regulatory agencies, academia, microbiologists, and occupational health care professionals. The Healthcare Surfaces Summit is currently working on a literature review and meta-analysis which will provide a foundation for the organization’s ongoing work. The organization’s research initiatives will report on a project the group is currently working on.  The Summit provides the platform for discussion, research, education and ultimately two incubators that will test solutions as systems and validate their effectiveness.  

The 2018 Healthcare Surfaces Summit will include the topics of “Collaborating with Professional Organizations on Success,” and “Working with Regulatory Agencies to Support and Facilitate Change.” The Summit’s keynote speaker and panelists will be announced in late spring.

“Our 2018 program comes at a great time, as we have just finished our five-year strategic plan that will result in a comprehensive approach to addressing the main issues that contribute to the spread of infections via surfaces," said Lybert. “We hope our work will continue to provide the medical and manufacturing communities with the insights they need to implement lifesaving designs and procedures in our nation’s medical facilities.” 

Interested attendees and sponsors can learn more about the 2018 Healthcare Surfaces at www.healthcaresurfacessummit.org.