Westin Houston Medical Center using robots to fight germs

i By March 13, 2020 No Comments

The Westin Houston Medical Center, which opened in December 2019, reports that it is using two LightStrike™ Germ-Zapping Robots™ to sanitize and disinfect its guestrooms and common areas to help combat the spread of coronavirus and other germs.

“We are taking significant proactive measures, along with following CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] guidelines, to minimize risk while also keeping day-to-day business momentum,” said Archit Sanghvi, vice-president of operations for Pearl Hospitality, the hotel’s owner and operator. “Wellness is at the core of our business and with the LightStrike technology, we saw a distinct and innovative opportunity to create a well-prepared environment for travellers within our hotel.”

Provided by San Antonio-based Xenex Disinfection Services and operated by hotel staff, the LightStrike robots use intense germicidal UV light to disinfect rooms by quickly destroying microscopic bacteria and viruses that may be missed during the manual cleaning process. They are already used to disinfect facilities at hundreds of healthcare centers (hospitals, clinics, laboratories, etc.). In addition, several hospitals have published peer-reviewed studies showing 50% to 100% reductions in their Clostridium difficile (C. diff), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and surgical site infection (SSI) rates after they used LightStrike robots and Xenex’s recommended protocols for room disinfection.

“Xenex is honoured that The Westin Houston Medical Center has invested in LightStrike robots to provide a superior level of cleaning for its guests,” said Dr. Sarah Simmons, Xenex senior director of Science, DrPH CIC FAPIC. “Our LightStrike Germ Zapping Robots have been successfully used for years to disinfect healthcare facility rooms, and we are glad to be able to work with Pearl Hospitality to provide that same level of cleanliness to hotel guests.”

Other enhanced cleaning and disinfecting protocols being used at the 273-key property, include:

  • All public areas and guestrooms are disinfected using hospital-grade cleaner (Ecolab’s TB Disinfectant Cleaner).
  • All guestroom consumable amenities (bath amenities, coffee & tea) and items such as the TV remote control are disinfected on-site and placed in sealed bags for guests.
  • Removal of all non-essential (magazines, collateral, decorative pillows, etc.) items in guestrooms to ensure a continually clean, disinfected environment.
  • EcoLab’s disinfectant cleaning protocols in all areas of the hotel including public areas, guestrooms and back of house areas (i.e. kitchen, etc.).
  • Dedicated team member to use enhanced sanitization methods on all guest-facing public areas—24-hour coverage.