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Vancouver General Hospital makes light work of patient
infections and superbugs

By Eric Wilkins, Staff Writer

ancouver General

Hospital (VGH) has begun
making use of new medical
technology to cut down on
patient infection rates, with
both additions to VGH’s
germ-fighting arsenal proving
effective thus far.

One of the new methods,
developed by Vancouver-
based Ondine Biomedical,
involves applying a special gel
to the inside of a patient’s nose
before shining a red light into
the area, killing bacteria inside.
The painless five-minute
procedure’s worst side effect
to date, as noted by Dr. Titus
Wong, is, “a mild irritation in
the back of the throat.” Wong
also mentioned the benefits of
the procedure (called photo
disinfection), saying, “It is
not subject to any type of
drug resistance and it doesn’t
develop drug resistance.”

During the photo
disinfection’s trial run, VGH
reported a reduction in
surgical site infections from
85 to 50, and cases of re-
admissions due to infection

Charities make every last penny count

Phased-out tender
sought after to help
those in need

By Caitlin Van Den Brink,
Contributor

Ww the penny no longer in
production and scheduled

to be collected and phased-out
over the next few years, charities
across Canada are holding
penny drives to help people
empty their houses of the little
copper coins by sending them to
a good cause.

If you're like most people,
you have them collecting in
your pockets, hiding between
seat cushions, and gathering
dust in some jar at the back of
your closet. Overall, the recently
abolished one-cent coin is seen
as useless and a waste of wallet
space by Canadians.

from four to 1.25 a month on
average. The new technology
also cut the length of time
patients spent in the hospital
in general, providing the
hospital with the ability to
perform 138 more surgeries
than would have been possible
otherwise. While the program
costs approximately $500,000
to run, it saved the hospital
$1.9 million.

The other disinfection tool,
currently in a five-month pilot
project phase, is a5’4” robot
called the TRU-D SmartUVC.
Popularly described as a tall
R2-D2 with long glowing
tubes for a body, the UV-light
emitting robot operates by
being wheeled into a room (it
cannot move independently)
and then being activated via
remote control. The room will
then be bathed in ultraviolet
rays for 15 minutes to an
hour. While the unit delivers
additional disinfection, it is not
designed to be a replacement
for regular cleaning; the space
which it is deployed in must
have been already cleaned.

David Carpenter,
president of ARAMARK
Healthcare, Vancouver Coastal

Many charities, however,
think otherwise.

Tim Horton’s is encouraging
coffee lovers to help send
disadvantaged children to
summer camps. Until February
24, the company is asking that
Canadians give their pennies
to its Children’s Foundation by
dropping the coins off at any
Tim Horton’s location.

Canadian Tire is also
holding penny drives at select
stores for its Jumpstart Charity,
which gives children a chance to
enroll in sports and recreational
activities when they might not
otherwise have the chance.

Many local organizations
are also hosting their own penny
drives, including the Maple
Ridge Hospital, the Sunshine
Foundation, which supports
children with disabilities,
and the Tapestry Foundation
for Health Care, which helps
families of those suffering from

Health’s contracted cleaning
company, commented on
using TRU-D: “We selected
TRU-D for its proven
performance and ability to
destroy superbugs. We are at
the leading edge of innovative
infection prevention practices
in Canada, our training,
technology, cleaning products,
and quality assurance
processes are designed to work
in close coordination with our
hospital partner’s infection
prevention teams.”

Dr. Elizabeth Bryce, the
medical director for infection
control at Vancouver Coastal
Health, was pleased with the
performance of TRU-D to date.
“We've been very impressed
with the almost complete
eradication of organisms,
even when we take it to high
concentrations. We hope it will
decrease the rates of hospital-
acquired organisms like
superbugs.”

The technology will
reportedly cost about $100,000
per unit, and the hospital
plans to test a similar device,
PulseRx before making a final
decision.

dementia.

Free the Children, a
charity based out of Toronto
which supplies drinking water
to children in developing
countries, is hosting a penny
drive which has so far raised
more than $70 million—or
enough money to supply
more than 28,000 people with
fresh drinking water. With the
help of RBC, the charity has
recently completed a week-long
campaign where Canadians
could drop off their pennies,
wrapped or not, at any RBC
branch.

“We're encouraging
Canadians to be creative with
their pennies... hold office
penny drives, dip into coin jars
and piggy banks, look under
the couch,” said Dave McKay
group head of Personal and
Commercial Banking at RBC.

 

 

 

Photo courtesyof DennisSylvesterHurd (Flickr)

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