When a hospital with a small budget approached Greg Stowe of OctoClean with two problems—dirty hallways and a need to reduce costs—he had the answer to both: the ProTeam® GoFree Flex Pro® cordless backpack vacuum. The hospital’s previous contractor had been using a broom and dustpan, but Stowe immediately knew he could cut cleaning time from hours to minutes while also providing a superior clean.
“It would take an employee 3 hours to do one main hallway and a stairwell with a broom and dustpan,” says Stowe. “It took my employee 45 minutes with the GoFree Flex Pro.”
As the Vice President of Healthcare Services for OctoClean, Greg Stowe bears the responsibility of determining and creating safe conditions for patients, health care professionals, and his cleaning crew by ensuring all health care facilities under his purview are cleaned to OctoClean’s high standards.
Nightly, Stowe’s health care team cleans 30 facilities covering over 100,000 square feet, including all the outpatient buildings for Loma Linda University Health in Loma Linda, California. Greg is an expert in the special needs of hospital cleaning. Dust is a major threat to the delicate ecosystem of a hospital, and Stowe’s team works with the hospital to help remove that threat.
“After HVAC ducting systems are properly shut off, we help the engineers clean the ducts,” Stowe explains. “We use the cordless backpack vacuum and don’t even have to shut down a hallway.”
Keeping halls open and accessible is important in 24-hour facilities such as hospitals. Stowe’s porters clean around staff and patients day and night, making vacuuming quickly and quietly a high priority for OctoClean.
At many hospitals, Stowe’s crew gets graded on how quiet they are. At only 63.7 decibels, below the volume of a normal conversation, the GoFree Flex Pro is quiet enough to keep the OctoClean crew from being noticed.
Stowe and his team have also learned the importance of using the right tool for the job. In hospital stairwells, they use the JetSweep® floor tool, a large 20” floor brush tool with medium bristles that covers more area than a standard tool, improving efficiency.
In addition to the seven GoFree Flex Pro cordless backpack vacuums used primarily in hospitals, OctoClean trusts ProTeam for all their vacuum needs. Their fleet of over 600 ProTeam vacuums includes about 200 Super CoachVac® units, 400 Super Coach Pro® units, and even one new FreeFlex® corded/cordless upright vacuum.
“We use the FreeFlex at a medical facility,” Stowe states. “Our cleaner there loves it. You wouldn’t be able to tell that its cordless from the suction, it’s just as good as a corded vacuum. And you know it will last.”
ProTeam, Inc. | 866-888-2168 | www.proteam.emerson.com
