Equipment handling dramatically streamlined by ‘Operation Clean Sweep’

Not long ago, a resident at Martha & Mary Health Services in Poulsbo, WA might have had to wait 25 minutes while staff hunted for an appropriate wheelchair. Now, the average wait time is just five minutes—thanks to ‘Operation Clean Sweep.’

By gathering the more than 400 pieces of equipment spread across the campus, labeling each with a color-coded tag, and assigning every item to a specific location within a centralized storage area, Martha & Mary has been able to more quickly respond to residents’ needs—and prevent staff frustration, as well.

“This is a great example of organizational culture change: instead of continuing to work around the problem, staff were empowered to find a solution,” Susan Hausmann, Qualis Health’s quality improvement director for nursing homes, noted.

Results of Operation Clean Sweep

Leadership asked staff to identify procedures that wasted the time of staff, residents, or families. “Needless to say, we got a lot of responses,” said Chad Solvie, an administrator at Martha & Mary. The success of Operation Clean Sweep has strengthened their commitment to continue tackling time-wasters.