An Oregon assisted living community is fighting airborne viruses — including COVID-19 — with UVC lighting.
Suzanne Elise, an Avamere Living community, is benefiting from a $100,000 long-term care capital infrastructure improvement grant from the Oregon Department of Human Services. The Seaside, OR, community is the only senior living community in the state using Far-UVC lights to kill airborne diseases and bacteria.
UVC Cleaning Systems will install 29 lights from Direct Supply in its common and high-traffic areas, including the lobby, dining room, kitchen, bathrooms and hallways. Installation is scheduled to begin this month.
The lights, which do not emit visible light, will be installed in the ceiling tiles on the first floor and within the sheetrock on the second floor. The lights will run 24 / 7 to kill airborne diseases and bacteria. Far-UVC lights, which are filtered, reduce bacteria 90% to 99.99% over time, the operator said.
“This is a great technology that is really underutilized in a time like this, and I encourage other organizations to consider Far-UVC,” Suzanne Elise Executive Director Pam Baldridge said.
The lighting is in addition to a needlepoint ionization system, which neutralizes airborne diseases, and which Suzanene Elise installed last year.
Infrastructure grants
Ten Avamere community-based care communities are sharing $855,000 in long-term care capital infrastructure improvement grants to make updates to rooftops, air conditions and other systems. A company spokesman told McKnight’s Senior Living that another $250,000 in grant dollars will be approved in the near future.
The state’s Long-Term Care Capital Improvement and Emergency Preparedness Program provides grants to assisted living, residential care and nursing facility providers to improve emergency preparedness, air quality, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, infectious disease prevention strategies, and technology to support virtual visitation.
On the heels of the pandemic and a devastating wildfire season in 2021, Oregon approved investing $30 million to support long-term care providers in making facility infrastructure upgrades related to air quality, emergency power, reduction of the spread of infectious diseases and emergency preparedness.
