HEALTHCARE ALERT – ImageFIRST Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update #6
THANK YOU!
The stories of you, our “Healthcare Heroes”, are inspiring. All 2,300 ImageFIRST associates stand with you and are here to support you. This includes identifying opportunities to improve your ability to provide critical patient care. Some of these include the replacement of unreliable disposable products, such as fluid resistant barrier gowns, with our reusable products. We have also been asked to assist clients in improving their infection prevention practices by providing scrub and microfiber product services. Please let us know how we might help you.
Now more than ever, we want to communicate the steps we are taking to ensure we provide safe, sanitized linen and uninterrupted service to our customers and their teams.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has identified ImageFIRST as “Essential Critical Infrastructure Workers”. This ruling allows us to maintain our normal schedules, thus supporting you, your patients, and our communities.
Firstly, the safety of our associates is critical. We have expanded our pre-shift screening process to include temperature checks. We have shut down our facilities to vendors and outsiders. Following the CDC recommendation, all our associates are wearing face coverings to slow the spread of the virus, and we have expanded our housekeeping and decontamination practices. Read more on our website.
Secondly, our Business Continuity Plan continues to prove effective. It ensures that we have the people, products, supplies, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and backup steps necessary to continue uninterrupted service during this exceptionally challenging period.
As we continue to learn more from healthcare and public policy officials, we have extreme confidence in our processes and ability to safely handle soiled product, including linens which potentially may have been exposed to the novel coronavirus COVID-19. ImageFIRST, in the interest of extreme caution, is prepared to process such product as follows:
- Product potentially contaminated with COVID-19 must be identified, kept separate and brought to the attention of your ImageFIRST Service Representative
- Laundry bags containing this product must be securely closed to prevent product fallout; and
- When possible, we ask you to let this product sit at least 6 hours after use before we pick up.
As always, we appreciate our customers' cooperation and value their trust in us. We are committed to providing staff and patients with a safe service and hygienically clean products.
This is a rapidly evolving situation and we will continue to communicate, as necessary.