Good Shepherd Communities purchases LytBots, installs air-purification systems in battle against COVID-19

All three of Good Shepherd Communities’ campuses have purchased LytBots and installed new photohydroionization air purification systems, both of which are described as “new, highly innovative lines of defense and attack against pathogens” and the fight against COVID-19.

The campuses include Good Shepherd Fairview Home in Binghamton; Good Shepherd Village at Endwell; and Chase Memorial Nursing Home in New Berlin in Chenango County.

The Lytbots for all three campuses represent a “significant investment” of more than $60,000 over a three-year period, as Good Shepherd is “committed to exploring innovative ways to protect its staff and residents.”

LytBot is a robot that uses pulsed broad wavelength with ultraviolet C (UVC) light which can “eliminate pathogens in seconds,” per a news release. The robot runs “ultra-fast cycles, quickly and reliably targeting surface-based pathogen load, reducing the risk of infection spread,” as described in the news release.

A single resident room, including the bathroom, can be disinfected in 15 minutes, the organization said.

Solaris Disinfection Inc. — the manufacturer headquartered near Toronto, Ontario —  has trained key employees at each facility on how to use these new high-tech systems, and Good Shepherd has recently begun using them in its adult care and nursing-home facilities, it added.

Air purification systems

Good Shepherd Communities is also installing new photohydroionization air purification systems into the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) units on all three of its campuses to help fight against COVID-19.

Good Shepherd Fairview Home in Binghamton; Good Shepherd Village at Endwell; and Chase Memorial Nursing Home in New Berlin are building the ultraviolet-lighting systems into the HVAC control boxes in common areas to “kill or stop” the spread of COVID-19 and a range of other dangerous bacteria and viruses, from MRSA to E. coli, the organization said.

The system uses ultraviolet lighting (UV) “enhanced by a hydrated quad-metallic compound target which develops an advanced oxidation reaction that creates hydro-peroxides, super oxide ions, and hydroxides,” as described in the news release.

In addition to protecting residents and employees from contracting COVID-19, the UV-lighting system “further improves” air quality throughout the buildings using this technology, which is designed to reduce odors, air pollutants, VOC (chemical odors), smoke, mold, bacteria, and viruses.

About Good Shepherd Communities

The nonprofit Good Shepherd Fairview Home at Binghamton is a residential health-care community that has offered housing and health care services for 150 years to its seniors.

Good Shepherd Village at Endwell, built in 2009, is a continuing care retirement community (CCRC) that provides residential living, skilled care, assisted living, companion services, and therapy services.

Chase Memorial Nursing Home & Rehab in New Berlin was acquired by Good Shepherd Communities in 2017 and serves seniors in Chenango and Otsego Counties.

Good Shepherd Communities Foundation, a nonprofit charitable corporation, was established in 1986. It promotes the benefits of charitable giving and provides financial and other support for its parent organization, Good Shepherd Communities, and its three campuses.