Urgent Care Cleaning: 7 Tips for a Clean and Safe Environment

An urgent care center is a fast-paced environment with patients coming and going at all hours. From illnesses and injuries to preventative care and blood tests, your staff treats people of all ages with all types of conditions and needs. It’s vital to protect your healthcare workers and patients by adhering to facility-wide cleanliness guidelines.

1. Maintenance of Hard Surfaces

Surfaces such as floors, walls and tabletops should be routinely cleaned and disinfected with the proper detergents. Antimicrobial surfaces such as copper and silver are more resistant to contaminants than other common surface materials and are a fantastic option for countertops and tables.

2. Sanitation Quality & Compliance Monitoring

Ensure team members are held accountable for adhering to all recommended environmental cleaning practices. Jani-King provides Environmental Services for your healthcare facility which incorporates the latest technologies, high-level training and education, customer service programs, disinfecting programs and integrated cleaning systems.

3. Proper Cleaning & Disinfecting Training

The entire staff of your urgent care center must be aware of who cleans what, how the process is handled and when cleaning occurs. Training and feedback on disinfecting practices can significantly improve the quality of cleaning and disinfecting that takes place at your facility.

4. Bathroom Cleaning

Bathrooms with adequate cleaning procedures generally have low levels of contamination. However, as a medical professional in an urgent care center, you’ll see all types of patients, and some may have an injury, condition, or impairment that leads to dirty areas in the bathrooms. Toilets should be cleaned with a detergent and a firm nylon brush. Disinfectants shouldn’t be poured directly into the bathroom as water dilutes and deactivates any substantial cleaning properties. When flushing, best practices are to keep toilet lids closed to prevent the aerosolization of any pathogens that may be present.

5. Waste Management

Healthcare waste, whether produced by patients or originating from a room or laboratory with transmission-based precautions, should be treated as contaminated. Everyday trash, including paper, packaging and food waste is regarded as domestic waste and may be handled and disposed of as usual. Pharmaceuticals, toxic, radiological and laboratory waste should be discarded by following national or local guidelines. Separated healthcare waste with a color-coding system so there’s no confusion regarding what is or is not hazardous, and where certain types of waste should be stored. Professional healthcare cleaning companies who handle healthcare waste must wear appropriate protective attire. Sharps and fluids-specific safe disposal procedures. Any accidental injuries involving healthcare waste should be reported and the occupational health department.

6. Carpeting & Other Cloth Surfaces

Carpeting and fabrics are a source of dust, which could also contain microorganisms. These materials shouldn’t be present in clinical or patient areas, as they’re difficult to keep clean. Avoid carpeting, cloth, and fabrics anywhere spills are likely to occur. In spaces that do have carpeting, ensure they’re routinely cleaned to minimize dust dispersion. Fortunately for many urgent care centers, these types of surfaces are already kept to a minimum.

7. Trust In Professional Healthcare Cleaning Company

Urgent care centers are rapidly becoming one of the most frequently visited types of medical facilities in the country. When it comes to cleanliness, you can’t afford to take any chances. Professional environmental cleaning and infection control services in urgent care centers are the way to keep your facility clean and safe for both patients and healthcare providers. Qualified healthcare facility cleaners, like Jani-King, are trained to conduct microbial and disease remediation using proper cleaning and disinfecting procedures. These methods are for urgent care centers, healthcare facilities and medical offices of all kinds.

Following these tips above will help ensure that your staff, patients, visitors and anyone else who enters your center are protected from the spread of disease and infection. Remember that a detailed cleaning and disinfecting program that’s done by Jani-King is vital to maintaining the highest level of cleanliness.

For more than 50 years, Jani-King has earned our trusted reputation by providing results. No matter what your needs may be, we can deliver a professional commercial cleaning program that provides consistent, quality cleaning and disinfecting that enhances the value of your urgent care and healthcare facilities.