The theme song to The Jetsons greeted visitors at a specialty care facility on the campus of Veterans Health Care of the Ozarks in Fayetteville on Friday.
Mitch Goodwin, chief of environmental management for the hospital, was joined by coworkers as he sang. He was trying to remember the names of the main characters in the 1960s animated television series.
The Jetsons’ names could potentially be used for fivegerm-killing robots recently purchased by the hospital. Nearly 40 names for the robots had been submitted by the public by midday Friday.
The hospital is the first in the state to purchase robots for the purpose of disinfecting, Goodwin said. He said the Xenex robots emit ultraviolet light to kill germs, such as those that cause bacterial diseases.
“A big bank of lights rises up out of the machine, and it spins around and pulses,” Goodwin said. “When it pulses, it is killing bacteria.”
Hospital staff members have said the robots look similar to the Star Wars character R2D2.
Sarah McBride, hospital public affairs specialist, said the naming campaign is a way to introduce the robots to the public and employees.
“We found that people see it and go, ‘What is that?’ Mc-Bride said.
The robots were purchased for $75,000 each earlier this year. They completed their first month of service in March, McBride said. During that time, they cleaned 397rooms. The robots are used to clean standard hospital rooms, operating rooms and even restrooms.
The machines are 20 times more effective in reducing bacteria than standard cleaning, according to Sodexo, the company that makes Xenex. It also states that hospitals that use the robots claim a 56 percent reduction in methicillin-resistant staphylococcus and Clostridium difficile.
About 2 million people nationally acquire antibiotic-resistant infections a year,according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It estimates 23,000 people die as a result.
Goodwin said the hospital already does a good job of disinfecting rooms, but it wants to do a better job.
“The bottom line is that if you don’t come here with something [an infection], we don’t want you to leave with something,” Goodwin said.
Mildred Brewer of Springdale stopped by a booth demonstrating the robots on the hospital’s campus Friday. She visits the campus twice a week to exercise in its fitness center.
“I think this is a marvelous idea,” Brewer said about the robot. “I have a little fear of some of the new germs such as MRSA. I think we have needed this for a long time. It is probably obsolete now.”
Brewer submitted “Germsquatch” as a name for the robots. Other names submitted included “Germinator” and “Lou N. Hook” after Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek, who discovered micro-organisms.
Goodwin said the robots will be used after housekeeping cleans a room.
“The machine does not take care of soiled or visible stains or dirt or sweeping and mopping,” Goodwin said. “It would be nice if a machine would sweep and mop when in there, but it doesn’t do it all.”
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 11 on 04/12/2014