Clorox Purell Symposium

Sustaining focus, resources, and momentum around the foundational practice of hand hygiene has become increasingly challenging in healthcare today where priorities compete for attention. This year, we’re turning the microphone over to those living in this reality every day: a panel of infection preventionists (IP) who are navigating limited resources and the operational pressures that shape day-to-day decision making and yet, are still prioritizing hand hygiene.

Join this candid, peer-led conversation where our panelists explore:

· What remains nonnegotiable and where flexibility and adaptation are possible and appropriate in hand hygiene practice

· What is truly working in their hospitals--and what isn’t

· How organizations respond when hand hygiene becomes less visible

· How to address perceptions that hand hygiene is less critical due to low infection rates or competing priorities

· The real implications when hand hygiene momentum slows

Expect honest insights, practical strategies, and stories straight from hospital halls and IP offices. This session isn’t about theory. It’s about the lived experience of today’s IP workforce, and what it will take to keep hand hygiene at the forefront of today’s reality.

Learning Objectives

After participating in this session, attendees will be able to:

1. Reflect on how to recognize and respond when hand hygiene becomes deprioritized due to staffing constraints or resource limitations.

2. Describe effective communication strategies for addressing questions about the importance of hand hygiene when low HAI rates or competing IP priorities are cited.

3. Examine how peer IP leaders distinguish between nonnegotiable hand hygiene practices and areas where adaptation is occurring in response to operational pressures.

4. Identify peer-described strategies for sustaining the credibility, relevance, and visibility of hand hygiene programs over time.

Tim Bowers, MS, CIC, FAPIC, CPQH
Tim Bowers has spent nearly two decades at the intersection of infection prevention, patient safety, and organizational leadership. Since entering the field in April 2007, he has held progressive leadership roles across complex health systems including Director of Infection Prevention, Director of Ambulatory Quality, and Vice President positions spanning process improvement and clinical effectiveness. In those roles, he has led teams responsible for patient safety, data strategy, infection prevention programs, and medical staff operations across multi-site environments.

Tim brings a people-centered approach to analytically rigorous work translating risk assessments and surveillance data into practical, sustainable action. A national and international speaker on infection prevention and leadership development, he is known for connecting clinical depth with operational clarity.

His current role allows him to apply that approach to leading change management efforts focused on preparing his multistate, multi-site organization for a successful Epic EHR go-live.
Kim Atrubin, MPH, CIC, CPHQ, FAPIC

Kim Atrubin is a nationally recognized expert in infection prevention, public health, and healthcare quality. With more than 15 years of leadership experience, she currently serves as Director of Infection Prevention at Tampa General Hospital, where she oversees multiple departments and has spearheaded groundbreaking initiatives, including a $2.5M automated hand hygiene system and the development of a formal internship partnership with the University of South Florida College of Public Health.

A Fellow of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), Kimberly holds national certifications in both infection control and healthcare quality. Her contributions have earned honors such as Newsweek’s “World’s Best Hospitals for Infection Prevention,” APIC’s “Heroes in Infection Prevention Award,” and Tampa General’s “Excellence in Management.”

Edmund Perez, MSN, MBA, Ph.B., RN, NE-BC
Edmund Perez is a dedicated healthcare leader and Board-Certified Nurse Executive with a proven track record in clinical operations, strategic leadership, and patient care management. Currently serving as the Clinical Director at the University of Chicago Medicine, he oversees a large multi-disciplinary team across several specialty services, including Surgical Multi-Specialty, Dialysis, Telehub and Avasure. Edmund is recognized for his ability to foster a culture of professional development and regulatory excellence.

Throughout his career, he has been a champion for patient experience and safety, having chaired organizational committees for CLABSI prevention and hospital-wide Fall strategies. His leadership has earned him numerous accolades, including the TORCH (Team Originality Research Commitment Holistic) Award and multiple Patient Experience Awards for achieving top-tier satisfaction scores.
Megan DiGiorgio, MSN, RN, CIC, FAPIC
Megan DiGiorgio is an infection preventionist and Senior Clinical Manager, Healthcare at Clorox Purell Industries, where she has led clinical strategy and education initiatives since 2013. With more than 15 years of experience spanning direct patient care and healthcare industry leadership, she is known for advancing evidence-based practice, interdisciplinary collaboration, and practical solutions that improve safety across diverse care settings.

Megan earned her Bachelor and Master of Science in Nursing from Case Western Reserve University and holds Certification in Infection Control (CIC). She received the Gina Pugliese Award from the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA) in 2012 for her leadership in developing a modified surveillance definition of CLABSI for patients with hematologic malignancies, work that informed CDC’s mucosal barrier injury laboratory-confirmed bloodstream infection (MBI-LCBI). In 2016, she was named an inaugural Fellow of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (FAPIC), recognizing excellence, advanced achievement, and service in the field.

A trusted advisor to hospitals, healthcare systems, and patient safety organizations. She has served in leadership roles within her local APIC chapter, presented at national conferences, and published in leading infection prevention journals.

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Host or Publisher Clorox Purell