12: Clean Hospitals Day 2025: A Discussion With Alexandra Peters, PhD, the New CEO

ICTalk: Infection Control Today Podcast

Join the Movement: Clean Hospitals Day is October 20, 2025

On October 20, hospitals around the world will pause to spotlight a truth we all know but rarely celebrate out loud: Environmental hygiene saves lives. Clean Hospitals Day 2025 is your chance to rally teams, thank the environmental services (EVS) professionals who keep care spaces safe, and set new habits that last long after the balloons come down.
Infection Control Today® (ICT®) spoke Alexandra Peters, PhD, CEO of Clean Hospitals and a member of ICT's Editorial Advisory Board. Speaking of environmental hygiene quality throughout the world, "If we raise the level everywhere, everyone wins."
Peters discusses how Clean Hospitals invites participation via email or its website: Hospitals can become members with access to think tanks and scientific sessions, while ethically aligned industry sponsors (capped at about 50 and evidence-driven) help fund the initiative. The coalition aims to raise environmental hygiene standards globally by breaking silos between academia, industry, and care delivery, and by collaborating with associations and ministries of health in symbiotic, nonmembership alignments (eg, sharing activities and materials).
Because pathogens ignore borders, the program stresses international cooperation—amplifying messages like Clean Hospitals Day—to protect patients, support health care workers, and lift practices everywhere.
“Clean Hospital Day is vital. EVS and their role in keeping patients safe are vital, and they deserve to be honored and recognized for their contribution to patient care,” said Brenna Doran, PhD, MA, ACC, CIC, another member of ICT’s Editorial Advisory Board. “And while they are the people behind the scenes who are making sure things are clean and trash is picked up, they are paramount in the ability of frontline staff to do the work that they do. We cannot function without EVS. And Clean Hospitals Day is our opportunity to really recognize and show the value and the impact that these amazing, hard-working, dedicated, passionate professionals have in our health care space.”
Why This Year Matters

This year’s theme, Human Factors & Collaboration, centers on the people behind safe care. It recognizes environmental services (EVS) teams as health care workers and calls on leaders to integrate EVS fully into interdisciplinary care: shared goals, shared data, shared wins.
Clean Hospitals is offering free, multilingual materials—posters, screensavers, social tiles, and talking points—so any facility, of any size and budget, can host a meaningful event.
A Simple Plan You Can Run With

1) Host a 60-minute kickoff huddle (Oct 20).

• 10 min — Welcome & purpose: “EVS is clinical safety.”
• 15 min — Micro-teach: human factors that help (clear workflows, stocked carts, good signage).
• 15 min — Barrier busting: quick roundtable on top two friction points; assign owners.
• 10 min — Recognition: shout-outs and “in-the-room” thank-yous.
• 10 min — Photo & pledge: team picture and a one-sentence commitment.

2) Lift up your experts.
Invite an EVS lead to co-present with infection prevention (IP). Make it crystal clear: Cleaning is care, and EVS are part of the clinical team.
3) Run a “See One, Fix One” sprint.
All week, encourage staff to report one barrier (empty dispenser, missing wipes, unclear IFU) and fix one they can resolve on the spot. Track quick wins on a whiteboard.
4) Measure something that matters.
Pick a fast, visible metric: percent of rooms with stocked hygiene supplies, percent of high-touch surfaces verified by fluorescent gel/marker, or time-to-isolation signage. Share before/after results at shift change.
5) Celebrate people, not just policies.

• Hand out “I keep patients safe” buttons or badge tags.
• Spotlight EVS pros on your intranet and digital boards.
• Deliver coffee rounds to night shift.

Have senior leaders shadow a terminal clean.
Communication you can copy-paste

Talking point: “Environmental hygiene is a clinical intervention. When we clean well, we prevent infections, shorten stays, and protect staff and families.”
Pledge: “I will make the next patient’s room safer than I found it.”
Hashtags: #CleanHospitalsDay #EnvironmentalHygiene #EVSareHealthcare
Ideas for Every Department

• Nursing: Standardize where wipes live, and who leads the room-ready check.
• Facilities: Map ‘last 10 feet’ workflow so EVS carts, water, and waste routes reduce cross-traffic.
• Supply Chain: Confirm uninterrupted stock for wipes, mops, and PPE; replace any “shared bottle” practices with single-patient items.
• Quality/IP: Publish a one-page playbook for high-touch surfaces in your setting (ICU, OR, ED).

Leadership: Add EVS metrics to the safety dashboard and quarterly town hall.
Make It Last

Clean Hospitals Day is a launchpad, not a one-off. Convert your wins into standard work, schedule brief monthly barrier reviews, and keep recognizing catches. Small, reliable improvements at a massive scale beat rare heroics every time.
Call to Action:

1. Download the free Clean Hospitals Day 2025 toolkit (multilingual).
2. Listen to Clean Hospital’s Webber Teleclass Day
3. Put a 60-minute huddle on the October 20 schedule.
4. Choose 1 metric, 1 barrier, and 1 recognition—and make them visible.
5. Follow the Clean Hospitals LinkedIn page.

On October 20, let’s show patients—and one another—what safer care looks like: clean rooms, clear roles, proud teams. See you on #CleanHospitalsDay.