Collingwood General and Marine Hospital is poised to become a world leader in sanitation.  

The hospital hopes to improve patient care by having the first self-sanitizing patient rooms in the world.

“We have small patient rooms.  There are only 58 of them.  We can’t build more rooms.  We can’t make them bigger.  But we can make them safer using technology,” says Jory Pritchard-Kerr with the hospital’s foundation.

The technology includes things like handle-free smart sinks that produce ozonated water, which hospital officials say is four times for effective than bleach to kill bacteria.

The hospital has partnered with a medical supply company called Class 1 to transform five ordinary inpatient rooms into innovative self-sterilizing machines.

“I would love to roll the technology out into every room,” says facilities operations manager John Widdis.  “But these are the first five in the world.”

Officials say it will significantly reduce the number of hospital-acquired infections.

But being on the leading edge of technology comes with a hefty price tag.

The hospital foundation still needs to raise approximately $200,000 to finish the enhancements.  They hope to have the five inpatient rooms equipped with state-of-the-art technology by the end of June.