An almost forgotten mainstay of healthcare facilities, hospital curtains provide privacy and create spaces for better patient care. But they may also conceal unwanted guests in the form of bacterial and viral pathogens.

The American Journal of Infection Control (ref. K. Shek et al. / American Journal of Infection Control 46 (2018) 1019-21) found that 87.5% of hospital patient room privacy curtains test positive for MRSA after 14 days. Why? The fact is, traditional hospital privacy curtains are difficult to clean - removing them and replacing them is difficult, cumbersome, and takes staff a long time, ~ 30 minutes for each curtain. This makes cleaning and replacing hospital curtains expensive.

The Cintas Hospital Privacy Curtain System addresses the cumbersomeness of changing and cleaning hospital curtains head on. The solution enables hospital service staff to change dirty curtains for clean ones in under 30 seconds. Hospitals can use this solution to create a safer environment for their staff, patients, and patients' loved ones.

The Cintas Hospital Privacy Curtain System introduces a practical and efficient solution in healthcare facility management, specifically tailored to simplify the cleaning of hospital curtains. This new approach effectively tackles the issues of time-consuming and potentially unsafe hospital curtain cleaning practices by offering a streamlined, full-service model. Designed with simplicity and ergonomics in mind, the curtain can be managed without the need for ladders.

The new system has three main stakeholders:

1. Curtain Users: This includes patients, their families, caregivers, and hospital staff. They require privacy, expect a clean environment, and need to interact safely with the curtain.

2. Cleaning Service Representatives: Their role is to remove and replace the curtains quickly, safely, and efficiently.

3. Industrial Laundries: They require curtains that can endure at least 52 wash cycles without noticeable damage or causing issues in their machines and conveyors.

Previously, hospital curtains were among the most contaminated surfaces due to infrequent laundering. The new design focuses on ergonomics and durable materials that can repeatedly withstand the demanding conditions of industrial laundry.

Our design team set up a hospital privacy curtain system in our office to work with first-hand. The team found that the effort of removing and replacing hospital curtains was supremely challenging, even for our tallest teammates. After speaking with experts at Cintas, we confirmed the common concerns of healthcare settings: reaching the curtain fasteners requires a ladder (i.e. added bulk/weight, time, and risk of falling), the curtains drag on the floor during the exchange (i.e. spreading bacteria and dirt), and the curtain exchange process strains the arms and necks of everyone who attempts it (i.e. injured staff). We tuned up our sewing machines, selected fabrics, researched fasteners, and visited the industrial laundering facilities of Cintas to understand their operations and concerns. Our investigation into industrial laundering practices, particularly through the visit to Cintas facilities, revealed the vulnerability of hanging parts to damage during the wash cycle. Armed with insights, we began our iterative process of designing and prototyping.

Key considerations were made for all user touchpoints. The zipper starts are positioned at an ergonomic height, and custom zipper pulls are designed for ease of use. For shorter users, an extension tool is provided to maintain efficiency and ergonomics. To prevent snagging in laundry equipment, any loose fabric on the curtains is secured with snaps during wash cycles. Material choices and sewing details were meticulously selected for industrial durability.

Remarkably, while the initial design goal was to reduce the curtain change-out time from 30 minutes to 7 minutes, the new design has far exceeded expectations, reducing the time to approximately 29 seconds per curtain. This extraordinary achievement highlights the product's innovative nature - transforming what might seem like an obvious idea into a practical, yet unexplored solution that significantly enhances efficiency in healthcare settings.

From a design point of view, simplicity was the ultimate sophistication. Crafting the obvious, yet unattempted solution could only be achieved by relentlessly chipping away at the complexity of the problem.

The primary benefit is the assurance of a clean, safe surface, significantly reducing the risk of hospital-acquired infections.

This system has been deployed across 50 healthcare facilities, each reporting marked improvements, and an incentive to keep up with the cleaning program.