October 20th is Clean Hospitals Day (CHD). What is CHD? It is an initiative and a reminder to strengthen hygiene and infection prevention in healthcare facilities worldwide. While significant progress has been made in preventing some healthcare-associated infections (HAI), there is still much more work needed to be done (CDC 1).
Why Does Keeping Hospital Clean Matters?
About 1 in 31 hospital patients in the United States, have at least one healthcare-associated infection, in any given day (CDC 1).
According to CDC reports, the most common infections in acute care hospitals, between 2022-2023 were:
- Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) – 16%
- Central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) – 13%
- C. difficile infection (CDI) – 13%
- CAUTI – 11%
- Ventilator-associated events (VAE) – 5%
- Surgical site infections (SSIs) after abdominal hysterectomy and colon surgery.
In comparison with prior years, however, overall infection rates continue to decrease (CDC 2). It is a testimony that coordinated action can save patients’ lives.
Brief History of Clean Hospital Day:
CHD was launched in 2019, spearheaded by World Health Organization. It was as part of the Clean Hospitals initiative. The purpose was to raise awareness and strengthen overall hospital hygiene as a cornerstone of patient safety. This initiative brought together many players including hospitals, governments, professional societies, industry partners, and infection prevention experts around the world.
Team Effort to Keep Patients Safe:
Keeping hospitals clean is never the job of one person or department. It is a team effort. It requires the collaboration of multiple players including infection prevention nurses, physicians, nurses, environmental services teams, facility managers, educators, technology partners and others.
Teamwork is what turns protocols into prevention, from proper facility design to educating and implementing proper disinfection practices. Everyone plays a role in making sure hospital environments are safe for patients, families, and staff.
Community Education Matters Too
Preventing infections does not start or end at the hospital door. Education is a powerful tool. That is why we, at Indelible Learning, are committed to building powerful educational tools.
By teaching everyone in the health ecosystem – from patients and families to healthcare workers about proper hand hygiene and infection control – we build healthier and more resilient people and communities.
For infection prevention, that is why we created our hand hygiene trainer. It is an engaging, innovative and effective way to help learners build lifelong habits to protect themselves and others from unnecessary infections. Clean hands save lives, inside and outside the hospital.
For me, this is not theoretical. Over more than 25 years in hospital medicine, I have witnessed firsthand how devastating healthcare-associated infections can be. I have cared for patients who became seriously ill, and some who lost their lives, because of infections that could have been prevented.
And I have also seen the opposite: what happens when we work together, educating patients and communities, empowering staff, and committing to shared standards of cleanliness and safety. When that happens, infections go down, outcomes improve, and lives are saved.
“Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.” – – – Andrew Carnegie
Today is a good reminder that clean hospitals save lives. And that great teamwork and collaboration matters.
Let’s keep working together to keep hospitals clean. As a result, we will make every patient care environment as safe as possible.
Patient Safety Is Everyone’s Responsibility
“No Safety, Know Pain. Know Safety, No Pain.
Safety doesn’t happen by accident.
When safety is first, you last.”
Every hand washed, every surface cleaned, every person educated makes a difference.
Together, we can protect patients, families, and communities.
#CleanHospitalsDay #InfectionPrevention #Teamwork #HandHygiene #PatientSafety #CleanHandsSaveLives #crileymd #indeliblemd #healthmd #EnvironmentalHygiene #Collaboration #Innovation #indelibleLearning #HHT #HWT #BBT
References:
- HAIs: Reports and Data. https://www.cdc.gov/healthcare-associated-infections/php/data/index.html Last accessed October 20th 2025.
- Current HAI Progress Report. https://www.cdc.gov/healthcare-associated-infections/php/data/progress-report.html Last accessed October 20th 2025.
Dr. Jasminka Vukanovic-Criley MD, FACP, FHM is a multiple award-winning physician, internist, hospitalist, healthcare & education innovator & Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at UCLA. She is a career mentor & advisor to numerous undergraduate, graduate & postgraduate students & faculty. As a researcher, Dr. Criley received awards from the National Institutes of Health & the U.S. Department of Education Her work focuses on creating research-driven #edtech games & digital media to improve health, civics, science education & promote healthy habits. Dr Criley is also a sought-after speaker & a founding Board member of Physician’s Weekly. She can be reached on X at @criley_md and at www.linkedin.com/in/jasminka-criley-md