Public Health Ontario now overseeing JCYH program
Expertise helps position PHO to enhance Just Clean Your Hands’ program: Van Horne
Monday December 5, 2011 -- Deron Hamel
Public Health Ontario (PHO) is now overseeing the Just Clean Your Hands (JCYH) program, a hand-hygiene awareness initiative launched in long-term care homes and hospitals by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care in 2008.

The transfer was completed Dec. 1, and all information pertaining to the JCYH program is now available on the PHO website.

PHO’s manager of infection prevention and control resources Liz Van Horne says the JCYH program will continue its work with the long-term care sector to enhance the initiative.

“We will be continuing our work with the regional infection control network to support the program in long-term care homes, and continue with training and support that the networks have provided to long-term care homes to implement the program,” she tells the Morning Report.

“We’re really excited about (overseeing the program). It’s something that we believe in, that we’ve watched grow and we’ve already seen that it has made a difference.”

The reason for the transfer, says Van Horne, is that JCYH’s mandate falls in line with PHO’s work as a centre for scientific and technical expertise aimed at protecting the health of Ontarians.

The program’s objective is to prevent health care-associated infections and promote safety for long-term care and retirement home residents and hospital patients.

PHO, she adds, is positioned to enhance the JCYH initiative, largely because of the experts who are involved with the organization.

“We have the expertise and we have some absolutely top-notch individuals who have skills in infection prevention and control, in epidemiology and in research, and we can bring all of those pieces together to help us move the program forward,” she says.

JCYH combines education, research and collaboration with health-care providers to increase hand-hygiene practices and help enhance safety across the health-care continuum.

As with any initiative of its kind, JCYH needs to stay fresh and keep abreast of all the latest information and technology to continuously enhance its mandate, says Van Horne.

“And we have the ability to do that with all of the talent we have here,” she adds.

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