Aase Haugen Senior Services has installed a new wheelchair washing machine

(PHOTO: Aase Haugen Administrator Orson Bauder and Aase Haugen Director of Nursing Tammy Lauritzen)

A new wheelchair washing machine is being used by third shift nursing staff at Aase Haugen Home, while residents are sleeping to avoid disrupting or inconveniencing them during the day.

"Now more than ever we think about and attack sanitation with gusto," says Aase Haugen Administrator Orson Bauder. "We are focused on doing all we can to help prevent the spread of infection, influenza, and the newest threats of coronavirus."

Operating much like a large dishwasher, wheelchairs are loaded in and a cycle of water cleans the chairs and sprays them with disinfectant. The full wash and sanitize cycle lasts about 5 minutes with instant drying - using safe biodegradable chemicals with anti-cross contamination cycles. The new machine not only cleans and disinfects wheelchairs but also commode chairs, shower chairs, garbage containers, hoists, slings, and other durable medical equipment.

"Over a year ago we began raising funds to purchase a wheelchair washer," says Aase Haugen Business Development Director Patty Casterton. "Little did we know it would arrive at just the right time to amplify and provide more efficiency to our infection prevention program."