Skip to content
Infection control

Infection
Prevention &
Control

Hand Hygiene

Every year in Canada patients die or become seriously ill from infections acquired in hospitals. It is estimated that at least 30% of hospital acquired infections are preventable. Bacteria that cause infections are most frequently spread from one patient to another on the hands of health-care workers.

Scientific evidence shows that hand hygiene is the single most important way of controlling the spread of germs which can cause infection.

Every year, an estimated 5-7% of patients admitted to hospitals develop a preventable and sometimes deadly healthcare-associated infection such as Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) or Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

Hand hygiene involves everyone in the Hospital, including patients. Hand cleaning is one of the best ways you and your health-care team can prevent the spread of many infections. Patients and their visitors should also practice good hand hygiene before and after entering patient rooms.

More patient-specific information is available at:

If you’re visiting our Hospital, please consider these important Hand Hygiene tips:

  • Always wash your hands: hand hygiene stations are located at the main entrance and throughout our Hospital.
  • Important times to wash your hands include:
    • as you enter and leave our Hospital,
    • before and after going into a patient’s room or a treatment room,
    • before eating, and
    • after using the washroom.
  • Ask anyone caring for you to wash his/her hands before touching you. It’s your right as a patient.
  • Follow the use of personal protective equipment (gloves, gowns, masks) as directed by the signs in front of patient rooms.

Below you will find a links to various Infection Prevention and Control Indicators for SJGHEL: