Franciscan St. Francis Health Environmental Services team earns first-of-kind cleaning certification

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by Brianna Crandall — July 28, 2014—ISSA, The Worldwide Cleaning Industry Association, recently awarded Franciscan St. Francis Health the Cleaning Industry Management Standard (CIMS) certification with honors for its Environmental Services operations at its Indianapolis and Mooresville hospitals.

The facility is reportedly the first self-performed, non-governmental hospital in the United States to receive this distinction. Out of roughly 70,000 building service contractors in the United States, only 200 have achieved this certification, pointed out ISSA.

Among the best-practice standards Franciscan St. Francis had to demonstrate are:

  • Quality systems
  • Service delivery
  • Human resources
  • Health
  • Safety
  • Environmental stewardship
  • Green building
  • Management commitment

The report commended the leadership of Environmental Services Director Mel Garrett and Sister Martha Ann Reich, who has championed the hospital’s housekeeping, recycling and “green” efforts. Sister Martha Ann in turn commended the facility’s Environmental Services staff, “because they truly do operate professionally and as a team to provide a clean and safe environment for our patients, visitors and their fellow employees,” and both credited the hospital’s leadership and all departments as playing vital roles in the certification process. “It was in every sense an all-hands effort,” said Garrett.