About Infection Prevention & Control (IPAC)
Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) is a corporate service for all of UHN's hospitals and clinics. Our goal is to improve patient care by finding and preventing the spread of infections through surveillance, education and guidance.
The IPAC team includes:
- Physicians
- Epidemiologists (who track infections)
- Infection Control Professionals (who work directly with clinical areas)
- Behavioural change specialists
- Hand hygiene audit team
Our Services
Disease Outbreak & Management
We investigate and manage disease outbreaks or clusters among patients to prevent their spread within our hospitals.
Surveillance
We perform active, continuous targeted surveillance for many different infections such as Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), C. difficile and COVID-19.
Education
We provide orientation and ongoing education for UHN's medical, nursing and clinical support staff on infection control concepts and practices, infectious diseases and other related topics.
Quality Assurance & Risk Management
We use surveillance data, incident reporting and accepted standards to make sure that best practices are in place and we are using proactive strategies to identify, prevent and control infections and improve patient safety.
Hand Hygiene
Hand hygiene (or cleaning hands) is one of the most important ways we can prevent infections. We carefully monitor staff hand hygiene, share the information with our staff and the public, and provide education and support on how to improve hand hygiene performance.
Collaboration
We collaborate with other UHN programs and services to assist in the safe development of day-to-day hospital life.
Some examples of collaborative initiatives include:
- Recommendations for construction and renovation planning and design
- Review and recommendation of disinfectants and sterilization of medical equipment and environmental cleaning protocols
- Policy and procedure development
- Flu Shot campaign with Health Services department roll-out for hospital staff
At UHN we work together to ensure our patients and staff have the best resources available to prevent and control the spread of infections at UHN. If you are a visitor, click here to learn more about what to expect when visiting a patient.
More Information
Contact UHN IPAC Department
Phone: 416 340 4800 ext. 7801
Email: ipac@uhn.ca
