Title page of the Building for health and safety in our health care facilities case study

The toll from hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) in Canada is staggering. Each year about 220,000 Canadians will get an HAI, and 8,000 will die from these infections, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC, 2013).

In addition to the terrible human cost, these deaths also place an ongoing financial burden on the Canadian health care system.

The sad reality is that many of those infections and subsequent deaths can be traced to the environment where care is delivered. A series of research studies have uncovered some of the poor design features that can contribute to higher rates of infections – an insufficient number of hand hygiene sinks (or their locations), lack of dedicated patient isolation rooms, and materials or surfaces that are not conducive to cleaning.

CSA Group recognized the opportunity to lead the way and help create safer healing spaces. Learn about how the National Standard of Canada for design and construction of Canadian health care facilities, CSA Z8000, was developed and adopted across the country and how it continues to evolve.

 

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