The COVID-19 pandemic was brought on by the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus across the world. COVID-19 presents its own set of challenges and pains for hospitals and healthcare professionals because of its ability to spread on surfaces in healthcare facilities. However, this recent acute issue serves to aggravate an already existing chronic condition in which a host of microorganisms, such as viruses (i.e., influenza and noroviruses), bacteria (i.e., E. coli, C. difficile, MRSA) and other microbial pathogens, cause such significant risks to patient health that healthcare organizations have dedicated personnel, procedures and budgets targeted at controlling or eradicating healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), also known as hospital-acquired infections. Because this is an ongoing battle, national healthcare organizations, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), The Joint Commission (TJC) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), have developed and routinely update strict guidelines for addressing HAIs in healthcare facilities. These detailed protocols have been extremely effective in controlling infections over the years. However, some guidelines, including disinfection of architectural surfaces with harsh chemicals and techniques, exact a toll on some areas of the healthcare infrastructure. One observation of these heightened actions is the accelerated degradation of painted wall surfaces in healthcare facility rooms that are considered higher risk due to the activities performed in the area and the need for increased hygiene precautions.
For hospital administrators, facility managers and members of the architectural community who are concerned with meeting current CDC and TJC guidelines and heightened COVID-19 precautions in the EPA’s Emerging Viral Pathogen Policy, without sacrificing aesthetics and durability, there are architectural coating technologies for targeted hospital environments that require a higher frequency of cleaning with harsher disinfectants. This novel coating technology offers improved durability and resistance to harsh cleaners and disinfectants without sacrificing appearance. First, we must understand the symptoms of current and newer disinfection requirements, the chemicals and procedures involved, the magnitude and spread of the problem, the diagnosis process, and the deleterious effects of not treating the problem. Then, we can review and compare the possible prescriptive treatments, benchmark testing methods and results, and infrastructure “recovery” examples related to this topic.