When you’re choosing where you want to have surgery, safety is usually the top priority – and Northeast Georgia Medical Center (NGMC) Gainesville is the first hospital in the state to install UV light technology designed to reduce the risk of infection in many of its operating rooms.
Far-UVC light is a groundbreaking technology that claims to safely and continuously eliminate airborne and surface pathogens.
“We always think about safety first, and we’re also looking for ways to continuously improve through innovation,” says Amy Marsh, vice president of Perioperative Services for Northeast Georgia Health System (NGHS), which is home to five hospitals including NGMC Gainesville. “Using this technology in our surgical spaces has the potential to drive even better outcomes for our patients.”
Far-UVC systems are now installed in five operating rooms of NGMC Gainesville’s Blue Tower.
“We’re monitoring the effectiveness of the UV technology and evaluating how successful it is at preventing infection,” says Ron Lewis, MD, medical director of Perioperative Services for NGHS and a general surgeon with Northeast Georgia Physicians Group. “If we see positive impacts, we will consider how to expand its use to other hospitals and locations across the organization.”
NGHS’ commitment to surgical innovation is also evident in its Lung Cancer Nodule Clinic, which uses the ION robotic bronchoscopy system to detect early-stage lung cancer 24% faster than the national average; being the only health system in Georgia and one of the few in the world providing histotripsy, a non-invasive procedure that uses sound waves to treat liver tumors; and being the first health system in Georgia to install the da Vinci 5 robotic surgery platform, which is the latest robotic technology that’s setting a new standard for precision and care.
To learn more about surgical services at NGMC, visit nghs.com/surgery.