Six employees from Bryan W. Whitfield Memorial Hospital have been recognized nationally as “Hand Hygiene All-Americans.”

The inaugural list is named by Proventix Systems, Inc. of Birmingham. The honor is given to healthcare workers from hospitals across the United States who demonstrate top-notch hand washing practices.

“In a hospital setting, there are a lot of things done that the general public doesn’t understand clinically, but one thing that everyone understands in the importance of a low infection rate,” said hospital CEO Mike Marshall. “Although our hospital has traditionally had a very low infection rate, this recognition shines a spotlight on our commitment to high-quality clinical care.”

Francia Webb, Roger Watkins, Patricia Taylor, Cynthia Rhone and Sandra Pearson were five of the 26 people named to the 2013 All American First Team for scores in the 90th percentile. Latasha Hill was named to the second team with 25 others with scores in the 80th percentile.

To qualify for the award, workers must have more than 1,500 hours of badge radio frequency identification (RFID) time, more than 3,000 patient room visits and an exceptional compliance ranking.

The 2014 Hand Hygiene All-Americans come from hospitals across the country and are group into First Team All-Americans, Second Team All-Americans and Honorable Mentions.

“Proventix congratulates the 2014 Hand Hygiene All-Americans for their recognition as leaders in quality improvement,” said Harvey Nix, Proventix chief executive officer. “Hand hygiene is a key behavior that can have rippling effects on many other quality events in a hospital. These individuals lead by example and are a great asset to the healthcare industry.”

BWWMH TO SPONSOR LUNCH AND LEARN ON SKIN CANCER

Bryan W. Whitfield Memorial Hospital will sponsor a lunch and learn Monday, May 12 with oncologist Dr. Shawn Tai.

The topic will be how to detect and prevent skin cancer.

Lunch is available for $5 per plate. Space is limited so call (334) 287-2626 to reserve a spot. If no answer, leave a message with your name and phone number.