JONESBORO, Ark. Nice-Pak Products, Inc. / Professional Disposables International, Inc. (PDI®), the leader in wet wipe infection prevention and patient care products, is partnering with federal, state and local agencies to help reduce healthcare costs and improve healthcare quality for the citizens of Arkansas. Nice-Pak/PDI is supporting the "Healthy Arkansas Initiative", a multi-faceted program to raise awareness of hand hygiene as the primary tool for decreasing the risk of infection in and outside of healthcare settings. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), hand hygiene remains the most important and simplest step in infection prevention.
The Healthy Arkansas Initiative partners include the Governor's Office, Arkansas State University, the Jonesboro Regional Chamber of Commerce, Jonesboro Mayor's Office, the Jonesboro Public School system, Saint Bernard's Medical Center, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as Nice-Pak/PDI.
Speaking about the Healthy Arkansas Initiative, PDI CEO Zachary T. Julius said, "Our objective is to reduce the cost of healthcare for the Arkansas community while simultaneously decreasing absenteeism in schools and the workforce, improving overall productivity. This program can serve as a national model for government, business and education working in partnership to reduce the potential local impact of the H1N1 pandemic." As part of the Healthy Arkansas Initiative, Nice-Pak/PDI will be taking its hand hygiene educational program to local schools with the help of Arkansas First Lady, Ginger Beebe. The "Story Time with Cora and Cory" program was developed by Nice-Pak/PDI. Each session includes a lesson on hand sanitizing as a way to prevent the spread of flu, colds and other illnesses.
Cora and Cory, mascots for the Sani-Hands® for Kids Antimicrobial Alcohol Gel Hand Wipes and featured characters in the book The Adventures of Cora and Cory: The Germ-o-tron, will be "on-hand" to help the children use a special germ light on their own hands. This germ light will demonstrate the before and after effects of sanitizing your hands properly. In addition, PDI's hand hygiene floorstands and brackets will be placed throughout the community at businesses, schools and city buildings to make hand hygiene more accessible. "By involving both the healthcare community, the citizens and business people of Jonesboro in this unique hand hygiene and infection prevention education program, we expect to demonstrate significant reductions in both community and healthcare acquired infections", says Hudson Garrett Jr, PhD, Director of Clinical Affairs for PDI.
Nice-Pak/PDI's newest manufacturing facility opened in 2008 and is located in Jonesboro.