Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) is a corporate service for UHN's four hospitals. Our mandate is to increase the quality of patient care by identifying sources of infections and preventing their spread through surveillance, education and consultation. We monitor all patient floors and support service areas.
Did you know hand hygiene is the simplest way to prevent up to 50% of infections and illnesses? Every year, an estimated 5-7% of patients admitted to hospitals develop a preventable and sometimes deadly health care-associated infections such as
Clostridium difficile or
Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
If you’re visiting a hospital, consider these important tips:
- Always wash your hands: hand hygiene stations are located throughout our four hospitals
- Important times to wash your hands are:
- As you enter and leave the hospital
- Before and after going into a patient's room or a treatment room
- Before eating
- After using the washroom
- Ask anyone caring for you to wash his/her hands before touching you. It's your right as a patient, so speak up.
- Follow the use of personal protective equipment (gloves, gowns, masks) as directed by the signs in front of patient rooms
- Avoid visiting a patient if you’ve had one of the following in the past 24 hrs:
- Diarrhea
- Fever and/or chills
- New or worsening cough
If you are a patient with these symptoms, consider re-scheduling your appointment. If you cannot, please inform the receptionist or nurse that you are having these symptoms. If you are ill, you may make patients or health care workers sick.
Learn more about
visiting a patient.
