Indoor Air Quality Discussions Will Take Place at Harvard Medical School

As healthcare and building science technologies become more sophisticated and collaborative, the one issue that remains at the forefront for physicans, facilities managers, engineers and hospital executives is the importance of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) to overall patient health. In response to that concern, Nortec Humidity Inc. has partnered to bring Dr. Stephanie Taylor and Howard McKew, PE, C.P.E. to lead a symposium at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Mass. The event will kick off with a reception on the evening of May 30, 2017, and continue with a full day conference on May 31st. Taylor and McKew will lead a series of sessions with some of the nation’s leading experts on health, facilities management, engineering and operations to share information and strategies for creating more IAQ for hospital environments.

Dr. Stephanie Taylor, MArch, FRSPH(UK), CABE graduated with honors from Harvard Medical School in 1984 and practiced clinical medicine and did academic research in cellular growth mechanisms for the next 20+ years. In her practice, she treated many new infections that hospital patients contracted while they were being treated for unrelated issues. Connecting the dots, she realized that there was a correlation between the hospital’s built environment and airborne infections. To help find a practical solution to ensure better patient healthcare, she obtained her Masters Degree in Architecture and has been working as a consultant to the healthcare industry for over 20 years.

“I am excited about the opportunity to share my experiences about the impact of IAQ with the attendees at this symposium. It is so important that healthcare professionals, building facilities managers and C-suite executives understand the importance of IAQ on patient and staff health in order to better manage their infection disease control strategies and mitigate patient and liability risks,” says Dr. Stephanie Taylor, president of Taylor Healthcare Commissioning.

Howard McKew, PE, C.P.E. has over 50 years of experience in building systems design, construction, commissioning, operation and maintenance. Currently President of BuildingSmartSoftware LLC, he has been promoting the practice of commissioning and in developing commissioning standards, including serving as a contributing author to the AIA B291-2003 document outlining commissioning services. Howard is the author of more than 500 articles and monthly columns and one book, Managing People in the HVAC/R Industry, as well as a contributing author to four McGraw Hill books and multiple ASHRAE Handbook chapters.

“It’s no secret that thousands of patients enter hospitals each year and while in the hospital are exposed to viruses and/or diseases. In turn, many become sick from these infectious viruses and thousands will die each year from the exposure while they were being treated for another medical issue. As a building engineering professional, I have dedicated years to the continuous improvements needed within the building systems to provide a safe, comfortable, and energy efficient environment for patient and occupant health. I look forward to challenging the attendees to look at ways that infection control could be managed as a separate entity rather than three or four different departments striving to work together. In fact, I will bring forth the idea of outsourcing infection control within a hospital and offer ways that can be done effectively,” says Howard McKew.

Visit the web site for more information and to register for the symposium.