Orangeville, ON – Headwaters Health Care Centre has launched the “Just Clean Your Hands” campaign as part of the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care’s provincial hand hygiene programs designed to educate Ontario health care providers and patients about the importance of effective hand hygiene.

Hand hygiene is an important practice for health care providers and patients and has a significant impact on reducing the spread of infections in hospitals. “Hand hygiene is a different way of thinking about patient safety and patient care that involves everyone in the hospital, including patients and health care providers. Many infections or superbugs we’re dealing with in hospitals are transmitted from patient to patient by unclean hands,” says Dr. Jeff McKinnon, Chief of Staff at Headwaters. “Patients have a great chance to be involved in their care by requesting that their nurse or doctor and all visitors scrub up or use antibacterial cleaner available at the patient’s bedside”.

Proper hand hygiene remains the most effective way to protect you in the hospital and outside, every day, against the spread of infections. Effective hand hygiene practices in hospitals play a role in improving patient and provider safety, and in preventing the spread of health-care associated infections. “We take patient safety very seriously at Headwaters to provide the best care in a safe environment for all. We have installed over 400 had sanitizer dispensers between both hospital sites for patients, visitors and staff,” says Anne Augustin, Infection Prevention & Control Coordinator at Headwaters.

“Educating everyone on the importance of hand washing will help us improve patient safety,” says Cholly Boland, President and CEO at Headwaters.

The province will require all Ontario hospitals to publicly report on hand hygiene compliance for health care providers in April 2009.  Patients and visitors are encouraged to use hand sanitizers after touching public areas, before or after eating, after coughing or sneezing and to use soap and water when hands are visibly soiled. For more information on hand hygiene visit www.headwatershealth.ca/wellness/

The public is invited to provide comments and suggestions about hospital services. Please contact Cholly Boland, President and CEO, Headwaters Health Care Centre at 519-941-2702 ext. 2200.

About Headwaters
Headwaters Health Care Centre serves more than 110,000 residents in Caledon, Orangeville, Shelburne and Dufferin County. The hospital operates two sites – Headwaters Orangeville, a 108 bed acute care hospital and Headwaters Shelburne, a 33 bed chronic care hospital. Visit www.headwatershealth.ca.

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