Exceed ICRA Class IV & V Requirements with STARC

With STARC LiteBarrier, I can provide a superior ICRA solution where speed of installation is of paramount importance. I can get containment installed at a hospital in a matter of hours. Background Modern Containment is a temporary containment provider established in Plantation, Florida, in January 2020 and is run by Mike and Na…

Alvin Dunaisky oversees major hospital projects — and most recently — played a critical role in SUNY downstate’s pandemic response. He describes key challenges and learning below. Background SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University is the only academic medical center in Brooklyn. At the height of the COVID-19 …

Hendrick’s Regional Health is a small, high-quality, lower-cost 160-bed hospital in Danville, Indiana. Their facility was overwhelmed by a high number of COVID-19 infections and this is how the facilities team created multiple patient isolation rooms throughout the hospital. Hendricks is a county-owned hospital with 160 beds l…

“Again, patient safety is our number one priority. STARC System panels make it easy to install HEPA filters which keeps the dust and debris contained to the construction site.” Troy Yarbrough, CEO, Preferred Construction Group Preferred Construction Group (PCG) holds a leading position in Michigan’s construction and renova…

Keeping Dust and Contaminants at Bay During Hospital Cafeteria Renovation Based in Minneapolis, RJM Construction has been providing commercial contracting services since 1981. RJM delivers on clients’ vision in ground-up construction and interior remodeling from concept to completion. Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital in St. Lo…

100% Approved by Epidemiologists Wexner Medical Center, at the Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, is an academic medical center serving more than 1.7 million patients annually. The center has been named among the best hospitals in the nation by US News & World Report. “It’s 100% approved by our epidemiologists…

An ICRA Containment Challenge Solved DPR Construction, one of the largest general contractors in the nation, is accustomed to working in challenging environments. Established in 1990, the firm specializes in technically complex and sustainable projects for healthcare, advanced technology, higher education, life sciences, and com…

Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) is a 793-bed, nonprofit teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School in Boston. Recently, when BWH needed to renovate several dozen patient rooms for two separate projects comprising a postpartum unit renovation, they tapped Suffolk Construction, which has completed more than 30 new construct…

100% ICRA Compliance Required Mortenson is a top-20 builder, developer and provider of energy and engineering services. Based in Minnesota, Mortenson has operations across North America and Canada. For more than 50 years, Mortenson has provided construction and engineering services to Abbott Northwestern Hospital, the largest ho…

Keeping Patients Safe During Renovations Central Maine Medical Center (CMMC) provides vital medical services to a population base of 400,000 people in central and western Maine. The medical center needed to renovate its Emergency Department, while keeping it open and safe for staff and patients. “This is the best solution I ha…

Busy Lobby Transformation to Pharmacy Maine Medical Center (part of MaineHealth) renovated a space off the facility’s lobby into a new retail pharmacy requiring the need to build temporary wall systems because opposite of the construction area was the main security reception desk and employee registration desk, two high-t…

Started in 1943, Hebert Construction is one of northern New England’s leaders in general contracting, commercial construction management, design/build, pre-construction, and self-performing services. Hebert specializes in commercial, corporate, healthcare, educational, and public housing projects. St. Mary’s Regional Medical…

Quiet Containment During Renovation Central Maine Medical Center (CMMC) reconfigured several radiology suites to incorporate new technologies. Two radiology rooms shared a common control room; one room was being renovated. Construction containment was needed to isolate the wall separating the control room from the renovation are…

Renovations without Scheduling Impact St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center had a unique challenge: The facility needed to separate areas within its Wound Care program, including hyperbaric chambers. Because of code requirements, the hyperbaric chambers needed to be enclosed, separated from the wound treatment area. “Building a…

Eskenazi Health of Indianapolis Indiana is one of America’s largest essential health care systems, providing treatment and services for residents of Marion County and Central Indiana. The Sandra Eskenazi Mental Health Center was the first community mental health center established in Indiana.  The Hagerman Group, based in…

Previous odhs-2 odhs-2 odhs-2 Next Background Midlothian, Va.-based Old Dominion Healthcare Services (ODHS) recently overcame a challenge while working on a hospital lobby with a four-story ceiling. The existing wall openings, which were 11.5’ tall, needed to be in-filled to accommodate new MRI suites. Challenges The project c…

A topic of interest for safety officers, facility managers and infection preventionists is water safety in healthcare. There are routine aspects of water safety that are addressed in each facility’s required water management plan. The CDC has a Healthcare Facility Water Management Program Checklist that goes over the basics. However, there are unique opportunities during construction or renovation to reduce the risk of waterborne pathogens and mold with careful design and commissioning considerations. The CDC offers a Water Infection Control Risk Assessment tool (WICRA) that can be used to assess risk based on water sources, design considerations, and patient populations served in the area. This tool can be used at any time, but may be especially helpful when planning construction or ren…

*Updated March 2023 Designing temporary containment for construction and renovation projects takes many factors into consideration, but safety is paramount. Particularly for use in healthcare settings, where concerns about keeping patients, caregivers and staff protected from construction dust and potentially dangerous pathogens are always top of mind.

By JANET HAAS, PhD, RN, CIC, Principal Consulting Epidemiologist, Innovative Infection Prevention The latest version of the infection control risk assessment has been called ICRA 2.0 to distinguish it from the original version that facility managers and infection preventionists have been using for several years. As mentioned in my previous blog post on this topic, ICRA 2.0 builds on many years of experience using the original ICRA and clarifies many areas that were not specifically addressed. In this post, we’ll apply ICRA 2.0 to some scenarios of construction and maintenance activities that are typical for healthcare facilities.

By JANET HAAS, PhD, RN, CIC, Principal Consulting Epidemiologist, Innovative Infection Prevention

Ensuring adherence to infection control precautions and prevention measures during an occupied healthcare renovation project is notoriously challenging – and critical. To help, we collected actionable advice for ICRA compliance and construction containment from industry experts. For more safety during occupied renovation expert advice, check out our recent blog post and watch our recent panel discussion.

Updated August 2021 IPs, FMs, or healthcare contractors may have heard of the Safety Risk Assessment or SRA, and most start to think about the Infection Control Risk Assessment or ICRA only in the days before construction begins. Both should be integral parts of the design and planning phases of construction and renovation projects. Discover the latest developments in healthcare construction safety from our infection prevention advisor, Janet Haas: SRA and ICRA: New Developments in Healthcare Construction Safety During renovations or remodeling, construction barriers in hospitals play a vital role in infection control. As a preventive measure, the barriers are part of infection control practices that are crucial to reducing the transmission of hospital-acquired infections (HAI).

Proper containment is essential to Infection Control Risk Assessment (ICRA) and maintaining a safe construction site while working within a healthcare facility.  Every crew member must go into the project with a solid understanding of ICRA to establish and maintain appropriate containment.