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RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, the World Health Organization has reported that at any given time, there are approximately 1.4 million people with a hospital-acquired infection; and
WHEREAS, these infections were not present on admission to the hospital, but occurred while the patient was being treated for other illnesses; and
WHEREAS, according for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hospital-acquired infections cost $28 billion each year and affect over 1.7 million people, and kill over 99,000 people a year in the United States; and
WHEREAS, disease-causing bacteria can live on many hospital surfaces for weeks, contributing substantially to the risk of acquiring an infection; and
WHEREAS, converting patient room surfaces to antimicrobial copper has been suggested as a way to significantly reduce this risk; and
WHEREAS, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) registered 275 antimicrobial copper alloys with public health claims in 2008; and
WHEREAS, antimicrobial copper is the first solid surface material to be registered by the EPA with public health claims; and
WHEREAS, these public health claims acknowledge that copper alloys are capable of killing harmful, potentially deadly bacteria; and
WHEREAS, the EPA-prescribed laboratory testing showed that antimicrobial copper surfaces continually reduce the presence of bacteria and remain effective in killing up to 99.9% of six types of bacteria even after repeated wet and dry abrasion and recontamination; and
WHEREAS, the EPA registration permits the manufacture of over 100 different antimicrobial copper touch surface products including door hardware, plumbing products, hand rails, and medical equipment; and
WHEREAS, this technology has the potential to reduce the frequency of infections, prevent complications due to illness, reduce deaths, and provide economic benefits to the City of Chicago and Chicago-area health care providers; and
WHEREAS, it is important that the City of Chicago assess the cost of replacing surfaces with antimicrobial copper and look into the benefits of this technology for both the health and welfare of the people of Chicago and as to the economic impact of hospital-acquired infections; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHICAGO, through a joint committee comprised of its Committee on Health and Environmental Protection and its Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards, conduct hearings on the prevention of hospital acquired infections, specifically with respect to the use of antimicrobial copper alloys; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the aforementioned joint Committee invite the Department of Health and the Department of Buildings and any other appropriate parties to testify concerning the use, effectiveness and cost of antimicrobial copper alloys as compared to currently used hospital surfaces; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all of the foregoing be done with a view toward developing a recommendation with respect to the use of antimicrobial copper alloys in appropriate locations within the City of Chicago.