Wilhelmina Hospital Assen uses innovative UVC disinfection with UVDI

Disinfecting with UVC radiation is not new in hospitals. The WZA is the first hospital in the Netherlands to have purchased the UVDI device. This allows the hospital to raise cleaning standards to an even higher level.

Disinfection with UVC light is an innovative way of disinfecting. UVC (Ultraviolet-C) is an electromagnetic radiation that falls just outside that part of the spectrum that is visible to the human eye. UVC rays can break chemical bonds. The light deactivates the DNA or RNA of viruses and bacteria, allowing a room to be disinfected quickly and efficiently. Moreover, it is a clean technology.

Francine Dekker, manager of the Infection Prevention department at the WZA, is delighted with the results. “Because not all guidelines regarding the use of UVC light have yet been included in the protocols, the WZA uses this method of disinfection in addition to the current protocol steps. Ultimately, manual disinfection could be replaced by the UVDI. That saves work and resources and it is also more sustainable.”

There was a long process leading up to the eventual purchase of the UVDI device from DUOMED. At the beginning of this year, the WZA tested two UVC devices: a robot and a static device that must be moved manually. Dekker: “The intensive and pleasant collaboration with DUOMED partly led to the purchase of the UVDI”.

Marthy Drent, head of Facility Support, thinks it is a practical device, easy to operate and price-wise interesting. “A single room can be disinfected with UVC light in about twelve minutes, a four-person room takes more than half an hour, but this can ultimately be done faster. Francine: “The new addition is now mainly used in isolation rooms. In the coming period we will investigate in which rooms we can further use the device to raise the cleaning standard to a higher level.”

The WZA is now a reference hospital for UVC disinfection with the UVDI.

Would you also like to experience the convenience of the UVDI? Contact our disinfection specialists for the possibilities.