A Hospital in Searcy is Using Robots to Clean and Sanitize Rooms

With a stricter standard for sanitation brought by the COVID-19 health pandemic, the Unity Health Hospital and Medical Center is now using LightStrike robots from Xenex to clean and disinfect its rooms.

“My main goal is to keep people from getting sick from the hospital environment,” says Meghann Haddock, RN and Infection Prevention Supervisor of Unity Health. That being said, the LightStrike robots are the germ-zapping solution Haddock landed on to prevent any hospital-acquired infection amongst patients, visitors, and employees.

While doctors and nurses do rounds in this hospital in Searcy, Arkansas, the LightStrike robots also go room-to-room to kill deadly pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2, MRSA, C. diff, and VRE. “We use those on all of the nursing units. We use those in the operating room. We also use these robots in common areas like break rooms, medication rooms, things like that,” shares Haddock.

The LightStrike robots are designed with wheels, a cylindrical body, and a raisable top. When it’s turned on, the top raises up and emits its UV light system to kill any virus and bacteria within its wavelength. The robots automatically shut down and move to the next room once it’s done cleaning and disinfecting a room.

Haddock notes how these robots and their technology are effective in decreasing the infection rates in Unity Health, “Once we started using these, it’s really decreased those numbers.” The LightStrike robots use a patented Pulsed Xenon UV light system that deactivates pathogens in an area while not causing any damage to the machinery or materials inside the room.

These LightStrike robots definitely serve as an extra step in giving people peace of mind when entering a hospital, especially at a time when extra measures and precautions for sanitation are needed. Truly, the advancements in robot technology are proving to be more and more beneficial in the hospital sector — from assisting doctors in surgeries, patient care, and now even sanitation as seen by these LightStrike robots in Unity Health, Searcy.