A multi-year gift of $95,295 from the Maurice C. Funk Trust to the Passavant Area Hospital Foundation has allowed Passavant Area Hospital to purchase a third UVC disinfection robot for the Environmental Services (EVS) team.

Passavant’s EVS team uses the Tru-D Smart UVC Disinfection Robot in operating room suites, isolation rooms and patient rooms to stop the spread of hospital-acquired infections, including C.diff (Clostridium difficle), MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus) and Norovirus.

The new robot will be dedicated to the nonprofit hospital’s Transitional Care Unit, but will be available throughout the hospital as needed. The robot will be named in memory of Maurice’s wife, Ruby.

 “Having a team of Tru-D robots ensures we are providing the safest environment possible for our patients and colleagues,” said Kerri Barton, Passavant’s manager of Environmental Services. “Tru-D provides consistent, thorough disinfection throughout the room.”

After an Environmental Services employee cleans a room using traditional methods, the five-foot, five-inch robot is brought in to complete the cleaning process. From outside the room, the employee remotely activates the robot using an iPad. Operating from the middle of the room, the robot’s sensors analyze the size, shape, and contents of the room, top to bottom, before delivering an automated single cycle of UVC light. The energy from the UVC light modifies the DNA structure of an infectious cell leaving it incapable of replicating or colonizing. The germicidal dose of UV light kills up to 99.9 percent of pathogens. UVC light is not visible to humans and does not travel through glass. 

The robot cleans a typical patient room in approximately 20-25 minutes, freeing up Environmental Services employees for other tasks during the cleaning cycle. Once the cleaning cycle is complete, the robot automatically stops and sends an audio signal to the operator that cleaning is complete.