LAKELAND, Fla. — October 29, 2018 — Florida Southern College broke ground on its new School of Physical Therapy today, a facility that will supply highly trained physical therapists to healthcare facilities in central Florida and beyond. The new School will be strategically located on South Florida Avenue in Lakeland, less than a mile from FSC’s main campus.

Renovation and construction work is underway on an existing 6,500-square-foot building, with an 11,000-square-foot addition to come. The structure will be a great addition to the Dixieland corridor, a historic district in Lakeland. Scheduled to open in August 2019, the building will include faculty offices, classrooms, and a state-of-the-art lab.

“This is another great, historic occasion as we break ground for our new School of Physical Therapy,” said FSC President Anne Kerr, proudly introducing the groundbreaking event as part of National Physical Therapy Month. “We will have about 300 students studying here,” she added. “This will be one of the finest doctoral programs for physical therapy in the nation.”

Dr. Nancy A. Nuzzo, dean and program director for the new School of Physical Therapy, thanked the Trustees of the Board of Directors as well as Florida Southern’s administrators for making such a significant investment to equip students “with the skills to make a positive impact on the community, so graduates can begin to fill the need for physical therapists in Polk County.”

Graduates of the program will be considered clinical doctors similar to physicians, dentists and podiatrists and provide services in a variety of settings, including hospitals, private practices, outpatients and inpatients clinics, home health agencies and nursing and assisted living facilities.

Pending its candidacy with the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE), the School’s new doctoral program will accept up to 36 students in each class. Students will complete the program in as few as six semesters. As part of its strong academic curriculum, students will perform clinical rotations throughout the United States and at local facilities such as Watson Clinic and Lakeland Regional Health. Students and faculty also will provide pro bono services to underserved populations and will contribute to the community through educational outreach and screenings.

The architect on the project is Wallis Murphey Boyington Architects, with construction work to be completed by Rodda Construction. Mike Murphey, WMB partner with ROI Solutions, said the building’s design is inspired by the work of architect Frank Lloyd Wright, notably including elements reminiscent of the colored-glass “textile blocks” Wright incorporated into his designs for the Florida Southern campus.

“What a wonderful way to expose those design elements to the public, to increase the exposure of Florida Southern to thousands of people each day on Florida Avenue,” Murphey said.

Posted October 29, 2018

Source: Florida Southern College

MONTREAL — October 29, 2018 — Loop Industries Inc. today announced that it has joined leading global consumer brands, including PepsiCo, Danone, The Coca Cola Co., Unilever, L’Oréal and others in signing the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment developed by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation in collaboration with United Nations Environment.

The New Plastics Economy Global Commitment is being officially unveiled at the Our Ocean Conference in Bali today, Monday, October 29, 2018.  At the heart of the Global Commitment is a vision of a New Plastics Economy, where plastics never become waste — a circular approach to create the “new normal” for plastic packaging.

The Global Commitment and its vision for a circular economy for plastic are supported by 250 organizations ‘drawing a line in the sand’, including many of the world’s largest packaging producers, brands, retailers and recyclers, as well as governments and NGOs, and 40 universities, institutions and academics. More than fifteen financial institutions with in excess of $2.5 trillion in assets under management have also endorsed the Global Commitment and over $200 million has been pledged by five venture capital funds to create a circular economy for plastic.

“We are proud to sign the New Plastics Economy Global Commitment,” said Daniel Solomita, founder & CEO, Loop Industries. “Joining leading companies from around the world by supporting and activating the Commitment fuels our goal to accelerate the world’s shift toward sustainable plastic and away from the traditional, take, make and dispose economy. It is inspiring to be part of this transition to a circular plastic economy.”

As the demand for sustainable packaging solutions continues to grow, Loop Industries has emerged with truly transformational technology that allows no and low value plastics to be diverted, recovered and recycled endlessly into new, virgin-quality Loop™ PET plastic. This innovation allows plastic bottles and packaging of any color, transparency or condition, carpet, clothing and other polyester textiles that may contain colors, dyes or additives, and even ocean plastics that have been degraded by sun and salt to meet FDA requirements for use in food-grade packaging.

Posted October 29, 2018

Source: Loop Industries

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — October 26, 2018 — Universal Linen Service of Louisville, Ky., has earned the Hygienically Clean Healthcare certification, reflecting its commitment to best management practices (BMPs) in laundering as verified by on-site inspection and its capability to produce hygienically clean textiles as quantified by ongoing microbial testing. Universal Linen Service is an independently-owned and operated linen service provider that serves all markets.

The Hygienically Clean Healthcare certification confirms the organization’s continuing dedication to infection prevention, compliance with recognized industry standards and processing healthcare textiles using BMPs as described in its quality assurance documentation, a focal point for Hygienically Clean inspectors’ evaluation. The independent, third-party inspection must also confirm essential evidence that:

• Employees are properly trained and protected;
• Managers understand regulatory requirements;
• OSHA-compliant; and
• Physical plant operates effectively.

To achieve certification initially, laundries pass three rounds of outcome-based microbial testing, indicating that their processes are producing Hygienically Clean Healthcare textiles and diminished presence of yeast, mold and harmful bacteria. They also must pass a facility inspection. To maintain their certification, they must pass quarterly testing to ensure that as laundry conditions change, such as water quality, textile fabric composition and wash chemistry, laundered product quality is consistently maintained. Re-inspection occurs every two to three years.

This process eliminates subjectivity by focusing on outcomes and results that verify textiles cleaned in these facilities meet appropriate hygienically clean standards and BMPs for hospitals, surgery centers, medical offices, nursing homes and other medical facilities.

Hygienically Clean Healthcare certification acknowledges laundries’ effectiveness in protecting healthcare operations by verifying quality control procedures in linen, uniform and facility services operations related to the handling of textiles containing blood and other potentially infectious materials.

Certified laundries use processes, chemicals and BMPs acknowledged by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation, American National Standards Institute and others. Introduced in 2012, Hygienically Clean Healthcare brought to North America the international cleanliness standards for healthcare linens and garments used worldwide by the Certification Association for Professional Textile Services and the European Committee for Standardization.

Objective experts in epidemiology, infection control, nursing and other healthcare professions work with Hygienically Clean launderers to ensure the certification continues to enforce the highest standards for producing clean healthcare textiles.

“Congratulations to Universal Linen Service on their certification,” said Joseph Ricci, TRSA president and CEO. “This achievement proves their commitment to infection prevention and that their laundry takes every step possible to prevent human illness.”

Posted October 26, 2018

Source: TRSA