POTSDAM -- Canton-Potsdam Hospital recently bought a Helois ultraviolent disinfection system.

A news release from St. Lawrence Health System, which oversees CPH, calls it “the most advanced technology in cleaning hospital rooms and equipment.”

It uses three portable towers to emit powerful, yet safe, ultraviolet (UV-C) energy that is effective against bacteria, spores and viruses, including so-called “superbugs,” which are drug-resistant forms of bacteria.

“UV-C energy is the peak germ-killing part of the ultraviolet spectrum used to kill Multi-Drug Resistant Organisms (MDRO) bacteria that are resistant to three or more classes of antibiotics, as well as other problematic bacteria like Clostridium Difficile (C-diff), Acinetobacter, Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which can cause life-threatening infections,” SLHS’s statement says.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are an estimated 722,000 hospital-acquired infections just in acute-care U.S. hospitals each year. The annual cost to treat these infections is estimated at nearly $10 billion a year, the statement reads.

UV-C energy has been used for decades to kill organisms in water supplies and other applications where bacteria are present. Now it is being used to kill organisms on hard surfaces found in hospitals including bed rails, TV remotes, patient tray tables, guest chairs, countertops, and bathrooms. In addition to using traditional cleaning methods, healthcare providers are turning to Surfacide UV-C technology to combat healthcare-associated infections by damaging micro-organisms’ cellular DNA, SLHS said.

The Surfacide Helios System implements three emitters into an unoccupied patient environment to clean all areas of the patient room, including the bathroom and other hard-to-reach areas. The 10- to 30-minute disinfection cycle treats the room with UV-C energy that disinfects areas that manual cleaning may have missed. Once the cycle is complete, the unit sends a detailed report to the infection prevention team confirming all of the exposed surfaces have been thoroughly disinfected, SLHS said.