Xenex offers room disinfection devices to hospitals hit by Hurricane Sandy

Xenex Healthcare Services, the world leader in UV room disinfection systems, today announced it is making its room disinfection devices available to hospitals affected by Hurricane Sandy. The company is offering a number of its devices to assist those facilities that have been impacted by Hurricane Sandy and that could benefit from Xenex's technology to bring their hospitals back online and to protect their already compromised patients. A "green," mercury-free technology, Xenex offers the fastest, safest, and most cost-effective method for the automated disinfection of healthcare facilities.

“To show our support, we are loaning our room disinfection devices and our trained staff, who are ready to work with hospitals affected by the disaster, so we can ensure those hospital rooms get back up and running as quickly as possible.”

"Our mission is to save lives and reduce suffering by preventing healthcare associated infections. We'd like to show our support to the hospitals and patients affected by Hurricane Sandy by helping get the hospitals clean and safe for patients again," said Morris Miller, CEO of Xenex. "To show our support, we are loaning our room disinfection devices and our trained staff, who are ready to work with hospitals affected by the disaster, so we can ensure those hospital rooms get back up and running as quickly as possible."

Xenex's portable room disinfection system uses pulsed xenon ultraviolet light to destroy viruses, bacteria and bacterial spores in the patient environment without contact or chemicals. Uniquely designed for ease of use and portability, a hospital's environmental services staff can operate the Xenex device without disrupting hospital operations or requiring the use of expensive chemicals. The Xenex system will disinfect over thirty (30) rooms per day, so hospitals use the system continuously to reduce contamination levels throughout their facilities.

"The devastating flooding in the Northeast presents an infection control nightmare," said Mark Stibich, Chief Scientific Officer of Xenex. "After hospitals get rid of the water in their facilities, they will need to disinfect the ceilings and walls to prevent mold and bacterial growth. Our device can disinfect their facilities - usually in about 15 minutes per room - and we are ready to assist them via our Flood Remediation Protocol, which has been successfully implemented by other facilities that experienced water damage."

Hospitals located in Hurricane Sandy's path which are interested in utilizing Xenex's devices should contact Xenex at 800 553 0069 or [email protected].

Healthcare associated infections (also referred to as HAIs) are the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, costing more than $30 billion each year. Evidence continues to mount that the hospital environment plays a critical role in the spread of HAIs, which are caused by deadly pathogens such as C. diff, MRSA, VRE and Acinetobacter. Hospital cleaning teams are not able to disinfect all the surfaces in patient rooms, with research showing that more than half of the surfaces remain untouched. Additionally, deadly "superbugs" are showing resistance to cleaning chemicals, making the pathogens even more difficult to remove and eliminate.

Xenex devices are made in the U.S. and are friendlier to the environment than current housecleaning chemicals or UV devices using toxic mercury. Xenex is the only company to offer a xenon-based room disinfection product that is patented, tested, and proven to deliver a germicidal dose of UV-C light capable of killing C. diff in four minutes or less. Xenex systems are currently in use by hospitals (including several VA facilities) throughout the U.S., and have proven to be effective against a variety of the most dangerous superbugs, including Clostridium difficile endospores (C. diff), MRSA, VRE, and Acinetobacter. Studies show the Xenex room disinfection system is consistently 20 times more effective than standard chemical cleaning practices.