Antiseptic vapour changing the game of hospital cleaning

By Megan Mattice

A Belleville doctor hopes to change the fight against hospital infections.

Dr. Dick Zoutman, chief of staff at Quinte Health Care, has co-developed a system that pumps antiseptic vapour into hospital rooms in order to reach areas that traditional sanitization can’t.

“This changes the game,” Dr. Zoutman said in a recent interview with the National Post. “The room is effectively germ free [after the vapour procedure]. Now I can say to the patient, after 30 years of being in the infectious-disease business, ‘Welcome to your room. It’s safe.’ ”

The vapour process intends to minimize the chances of vulnerable patients contracting hospital-acquired diseases during their hospital stay.

Reporter Megan Mattice will have more on this soon.