The coronavirus has affected all our lives in one way or another. While some have been more affected than others, there are steps that you can take both as a business owner and in your own home to help reduce the spread, specifically when it comes to your indoor air quality. In this blog post, we will be going over why indoor air quality matters, specifically for health care offices, and how you can help boost your indoor air quality status. Keep reading to learn more and remember to connect with Immaculate Air for more information. 

Starting off, it’s important to acknowledge where the United States currently stands with coronavirus cases. According to the CDC, there have been over 6.7 million confirmed cases and almost 200,00 deaths in the United States alone. While some states are starting to reopen more and life is on its way back to a sense of normalcy, the CDC is still recommending that people wear masks, adhere to social distancing policies, and call their health care offices before walking in if you are feeling sick to help reduce the spread of Covid-19.

When it comes to health care offices such as urgent care clinics, dental offices, hospitals, and other types of doctors’ offices, some of these facilities are only open for emergency or routinely needed procedures. You may also be required to make an appointment so check with your provider. You’ll need to follow their recommendations and procedures in order to stay safe, especially because most offices are seeing many at-risk clients. 

IAQ and Your Office

Now let’s discuss indoor air quality and why it should matter for your health care office. Air quality, specifically indoor air quality, can have heavy impacts on the way that your office space operates and the overall health around it. Now more than ever, we’re spending more time inside. Usually, it’s around 87% of our time is spent in buildings, and with the current standings of the world that percentage has gone up. Think about everyone who enters your facility, from employees and staff to clients, service providers, cleaners, and anyone else, they are breathing in that air and everything that is in that air. In previous blog posts, we’ve discussed indoor air quality and it’s not a simple fix. There isn’t just one step that you can take to help improve it, it’s something that you have to do overtime. Factors like, where your office is located, the weather, and moisture levels all impact your health care office’s IAQ. Other factors include: 

• Types and levels of pollutants, allergens, or chemicals in the environment.
• Sources of pollutants.
• HVAC design, maintenance, and ventilation.
• Dust, moisture, and humidity of the indoor environment.
• Staff and occupant’s susceptibilities to pollutants, chemicals, and allergens.
• Age of the building.

Many times, people just think that changing their air filter is the solution to helping to improve your indoor air quality. While that is a great start, there are other things that your health care office should do to help boost their IAQ, especially with the coronavirus still a very prevalent problem.

What Can I Do?

Of course, owning proper air ventilators, diffusers, and other products are a great start. You should also be keeping up to date with any routine services or repairs that your HVAC system may need. To view our selection of indoor air quality services, visit our site that has been designed with commercial and residential air filtration and quality HVAC services in mind. We also understand that due to the current state of the world, there are some things that may be more difficult or not applicable right now, however, they are still good tips and tricks to keep in mind. When it comes to the building your healthcare office is located in, here are some things that you can do. 

• Maintain a relationship with the property manager or landlord to make sure that all maintenance steps are being followed and routinely cleaned.
• Utilize natural plants to help boost your indoor air quality.
• Use environmentally friendly products, specifically cleaning products and solutions. 
• Routinely get HVAC system maintenance. 
• Speak with companies about potential pollutants before renovating or remodeling your building. 

Your medical staff can help raise your indoor air quality by:

• Filtering the office air by keeping vents unblocked and routinely cleaned.
• Following non-smoking/vaping around the building. 
• Reporting any building damage right away.
• Maintaining office plants and keeping them healthy. 
• Dispose of garbage and medical waste properly.
• Being mindful of shared food spaces, cleaning out fridges, getting rid of old food, etc.

Once again, we know that these are unprecedented times and that the health and safety of your medical staff and patients are of the utmost importance. However, with the help of the experts at Immaculate Air, you can keep both your home and businesses, especially health care offices, in a healthy standing when it comes to indoor air quality. After all, we’re now spending more time at home, so take care of your appliances by maintaining routine procedures and services. If you’re in need of services when it comes to cooling and air, think Immaculate. With years of experience and excellent customer service, our HVAC experts are here to help you. We are currently open and available to help people, to learn more about what we are doing to stay safe and protect those around us, connect with us directly for more information!