Silentia Key facts & figures
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of World top 50 Hospitals
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countries
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hospitals worldwide are using Silentia screens
The hidden cost of hospital infections
According to the CDC, healthcare-associated infections affect 1 in 25 US patients and cost hospitals up to $45 billion (approximately 38 billion euro) annually. Evidence shows that bacteria can transfer from equipment to patients, making the standard of surfaces and materials around the patient a direct infection control consideration.
The Contamination Risk of Hospital Privacy Curtains
A study in the American Journal of Infection Control tracked 43 privacy curtains across hospital ICUs and a medical ward. Over three weeks, researchers swabbed the leading edge of each curtain twice a week.
Patient privacy curtains are one of the most frequently touched surfaces in a hospital ward – and one of the most overlooked when it comes to infection control.
The study published in the American Journal of Infection Control monitored 43 privacy curtains across hospital intensive care units and a medical ward over three weeks, swabbing the leading edge of each curtain twice weekly. To understand how quickly contamination sets in, researchers also tracked 13 freshly hung curtains from day one. Within just one week, 12 of those 13 newly placed curtains had already tested positive for harmful bacteria.
Across all 43 curtains monitored over the full three weeks, 95% were contaminated at least once — including 42% carrying VRE and 21% carrying MRSA, two antibiotic-resistant bacteria that pose a serious risk to vulnerable patients.
The problem is compounded by laundering habits. A separate survey found that 37% of hospital facilities only wash privacy curtains when they look visibly dirty. But bacterial contamination is invisible — a curtain can appear clean while already harboring dangerous pathogens.
Impact report: 30+ years
Central Hospital Växjö was one of the first customers to implement the Silentia screen system. In 1994, they expressed belief in the quality and benefits of the system and replaced textile curtains with 273 hard-surface Silentia folding screens. Each individual screen equipped with the information from the product passports which give us exact installation and lifetime data, we are able to make a full-scale comparison.
If disposable curtains had been installed instead of Silentia screens, they would have accumulated 22 317 tons of plastic waste. If textile curtains had been installed instead of Silentia screens, they would have generated 1.2 million liters (318 363 gal.) of wastewater and used 334 760 kWh of energy.
By comparison, 273 Silentia screens weigh a combined total of 4.4 tons and are not considered waste, as they are reusable.
