Chiyoda Hospital, on the island of Kyushu in Japan, has become the world's first new hospital to be fitted throughout with antimicrobial copper door furniture. Officially opened on 2 July 2012, the 200-bed facility has 19 specialities.
A small-scale trial at the old Chiyoda Hospital carried out by staff showed that antimicrobial copper door furniture harboured significantly fewer pathogens than stainless steel items; this led to the decision to install antimicrobial copper throughout the new facility.
"I thought about the things patients would touch most frequently, and focused on those surfaces where deadly microbes could be transmitted to others,” said Dr Susumu Chiyotanda, who owns the facility. “We want to shut down the cycle of infection, and these microbes are killed by copper."
He also noted: "Over the past two years, we have tested the efficacy of copper products. Those tests proved the antimicrobial effect, of course, but also helped the doctors and nurses to understand it well."