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Baptist Health using technology to reuse face masks during COVID-19 pandemic

They are using robots to clean the face masks of any contaminants using ultraviolet light. The hospital used them since 2014 to clean the operating, patient rooms.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — As medical professionals experience a shortage of personal protection equipment, or PPE, Baptist Hospital executives challenged its staff to come up with solutions for the weeks ahead.

Using advanced technology, Katie Dorsey's team found a way to clean and reuse the N95 face mask.

"We have done, decontaminate, well over 1,000 masks," she said.

They are using robots to clean the face masks of any contaminants using ultraviolet light.

"We are doing two five-minute cycles with the robot that cleans the back and in the front of our team members masks," said Dorsey.

Dorsey, the nursing director at Baptist Medical Center Beaches, said her team reached out to the maker of the robots. The hospital had used them since 2014 to clean the operating room and patients rooms.

"Xenex provided a lot of science about the disinfecting service, and that is the science behind the protocols we are using," she said.

Baptist Health is now one of the first hospitals in the region to use the Xenex disinfection services to help those on the front line in the fight against COVID-19.

"We are really proud of our front line members and doing all we can to support them," she said.

Baptist said the mask cleaning program has been implemented in all four locations in Northeast Florida.

Each facility will have a room dedicated to disinfecting the masks.

"We really want to capture as many of our N95 masks as possible," said Dorsey.






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