Commercial Pest Control for Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Companies
Biggest Challenges Regarding Pest Control
High traffic is common in healthcare facilities such as hospitals and nursing homes, and every day, new guests arrive for care and treatment. Pests, such as bed bugs travel, from place to place by hitching a ride on human hosts and their belongings. With a constant influx of new guests, the chances are high that some of those guests will introduce intruders that can pose a threat to the health and safety of those at your facility.
Strict regulations are a fact of life for pharmaceutical facilities, and they're subject to audits by the U.S Food and Drug Administration. These regulations are designed to ensure that all pharmaceutical products are produced in an environment that is 100 percent clean and sanitary, and the standards that these facilities are held to is pretty high. Even a minor pest infestation can cause major problems for a pharmaceutical facility during an audit.
Reasons for Maintaining a Sanitary Environment
Pests can quickly introduce germs and disease. Rats and mice, for example, carry diseases such as salmonella and leptospirosis, and these pests may host tapeworms that can spread to humans.
The diseases spread by pests can be harmful to even the healthiest people. In healthcare facilities, most of those seeking care suffer from compromised health. Nursing homes cater to the elderly who wrestle with health challenges and weak immune systems. Hospitals work to nurse sick patients back to health, and those who are ill are especially vulnerable to the dangers posed by germs and an unsanitary environment.
Commercial Pest Control: Services and Cost
If you manage or own a healthcare or pharmaceutical facility, it's essential that to hire a skilled exterminator to implement an ongoing commercial pest control strategy. This approach will resolve any current infestations and prevent new infestations from taking hold.
An exterminator will start by assessing your healthcare or pharmaceutical company to fully understand the nature of the pest control problem. For example, if you have retirement home and you suspect there is a bed bug infestation, the exterminator will conduct a visual inspection, and may even use tools such as DNA testing to confirm the presence of bed bugs.
Next, the exterminator will choose a treatment approach. This will depend on what kind of infestation you have and how severe it is. For example, a combination of baits and traps might be used to tackle a rodent infestation.
The final step involves monitoring the results. This helps the exterminator confirm that the treatment has been effective. Many exterminators offer monthly or quarterly packages to help keep a facility pest-free. However, even after a successful extermination, pests might be reintroduced to your healthcare or pharmaceutical company, which means ongoing treatment might be necessary.
Proper staff training is a key part of commercial pest control. Exterminators can work with the staff to make sure protocols are in place to discourage infestation.
If you run a pharmaceutical facility, an exterminator will provide assistance that will help comply with FDA requirements.
The cost of commercial pest control varies, and it can range from less than $500 to more than $10,000. The final cost will depend on the severity of the infestation and the size of the space being treated.