Infection Prevention & Control
This program helps ensure the protection of patients, staff, volunteers, and visitors from preventable hospital acquired infections through activities like surveillance, educations, consultation, outbreak investigation and management, and the development of policies and procedures to help reinforce best practices in Infection Prevention and Control.
The goal of the Infection Prevention and Control program is to protect patients, staff and visitors from preventable infections.
How do we achieve our goal?
- By recognizing and promoting the important role that hand hygiene plays by providing increased access to alcohol hand rub for use by all patients, visitors and members of your healthcare team.
- By screening patients on admission for antibiotic resistant organisms.
- By ensuring our housekeeping practices and products effectively clean and disinfect the environment.
- By promoting the responsible use of antibiotics.
- By providing education to staff, students and volunteers.
Keeping hands clean is one of the most important steps in preventing infections. Your health care team plays a big role in preventing the spread of infection. They are committed to giving you clean, safe care.
When you come to the hospital, hand cleaning is your job too. Whether you are a patient or a visitor, do your part to prevent germs from spreading. Make sure you clean your hands often using alcohol based hand rub or soap and water, especially before and after eating, after using the washroom or after sneezing or coughing
Occasionally, special steps must be taken to ensure the protection of patients and staff, called “Additional Precautions”, formerly known as “isolation”. Visitors may be limited or asked to participate with these additional precautions by wearing a gown, mask or gloves.
It is important to remember when isolation is necessary; it is done to isolate the “bug” and not the person.
For more information about patient safety in the health care setting, visit the OHA's website.