A New Approach to Reducing HAIs: Expanding the Use of Ultraviolet-C Light

By Sophia McCrae

Fighting the spread of Healthcare Associated Infections (HAIs) is a continuous battle for every health system in the nation. But our odds of winning this battle may finally be improving.

Working closely with product manufacturers and hospitals across the country, Crothall Healthcare has explored, tested and implemented innovations to its cleaning protocol that have reduced HAIs while also improving patients’ perception of cleanliness.

For many years, Crothall deployed Ultraviolet-C (UV-C) light in contact isolation rooms. Now, by expanding its use across additional care areas and seeing successes already.

A New Approach to UV-C Deployment

Over the past year, one New Jersey hospital has seen HAI rates fall well below national targets when Crothall broadened UV-C use beyond contact isolation rooms to include patient-ready rooms, operating rooms, labor and delivery, endoscopy, and pediatric emergency rooms. Another advantage: When space is available, UV-C devices also run overnight.

After a standard discharge clean, the EVS team adds two four-minute UV-C cycles to target high-touch surfaces that manual cleaning may miss. This expanded model increased UV-C utilization from 1,000 cycles per month to 5,900, ultimately treating more than 14,600 rooms.

Impact: Measurable Reductions in HAIs

During the evaluation period, the hospital saw:

· A Standardized Infection Ratio 82 percent below National Healthcare Safety Network targets

· Zero findings of surgical site, C. diff, and central line–associated bloodstream infections

· 96–99 percent post-cleaning pass rates using Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) monitoring

Patients noticed the difference, too. HCAHPS Top Box room cleanliness scores rose from 70.69 in Q3 2023 to 83.33 in Q4 2024, and All Press Ganey database rankings jumped from the 41st to the 87th percentile.

A Broader Strategy for Infection Prevention

Crothall’s approach to reducing HAIs reflects a broader commitment to integrating innovative tools with evidence-based cleaning practices. UV-C disinfection serves as a supplemental step after manual terminal cleaning, helping inactivate pathogens such as C. difficile and MRSA by damaging their DNA and reaching surfaces that manual cleaning alone may miss.

Effectiveness is verified through ATP monitoring, while ongoing staff training reinforces high-touch surface protocols, proper gloving, and other infection-prevention measures. Crothall’s technology platform then provides hospital leaders with real-time data on cleaning activity and productivity, enabling faster decision-making and more proactive infection-prevention strategies.

Setting a New Best Practice

With the Centers for Disease Control estimating that one in 31 hospital patients has an HAI, the industry must rethink its approach to prevention. Crothall’s results offer a promising path forward.

By integrating UV-C technology into manual cleaning workflows, this model closes disinfection gaps, enhances patient safety, and increases staff confidence. The strong rise in UV-C utilization – paired with ATP validation and declining infection trends – demonstrates its value as a powerful, scalable strategy for hospitals nationwide.

Sophia McCrae is the Vice President of Standardization at Crothall Healthcare.