Hilton looks to Mayo Clinic for guidance on cleaning protocols, training programs

With hotel occupancy at record lows as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, Hilton is enlisting a pair of trusted names to help ease concerns among guests visiting any one of its 6,100 properties.

On Monday, the multinational hotel chain announced it would be partnering with Beckitt Benckiser Group plc, maker of Lysol and Dettol, in an effort to set an “industry defining standard of cleanliness and disinfection.” As part of the program, members of Mayo Clinic’s Infection Prevention and Control team will assist in the development of new cleaning protocols and staff training sessions.

"Personal safety is extremely critical as we re-open business and recreational activities around the globe,” said Dr. Stacey Rizza, an infectious diseases specialist at Mayo. "We are proud to bring Mayo Clinic's expertise and knowledge to the Covid-19 response on a national and global scale.”

Terms of the agreement between Hilton and Mayo were not released. The news comes as declines in tourism continue to drive down demand for hotel rooms. Recent figures show occupancy down nationwide by 69.8 percent to 21 percent. Revenue per available room is down 83.6 percent.

Hilton has one of the world’s largest hotel portfolios, with 971,000 rooms across 119 countries. The company employs approximately 173,000.

Here in Rochester, the company manages seven hotels in close proximity to Mayo including Homewood Suites by Hilton near St. Marys, the DoubleTree by Hilton downtown, and its signature five-star Hilton on North Broadway.

And a bit of trivia: the two institutions actually go back several decades to when late in his life Conrad Hilton donated $10 million to the Clinic. The contribution from the hotel mogul helped launch the Conrad N. Hilton Building for Laboratory Medicine in 1974. The building at the time was the first on the Mayo campus dedicated specifically to laboratory medicine.

‘Alexa, what is the coronavirus?’

Have questions about the coronavirus? Alexa can help.

Mayo says it has launched a new skill for Alexa, Amazon’s cloud-based voice service, to help users get the latest information about Covid-19.

To use the service, you must have an Alexa-enabled device, such as Amazon Echo and Echo Dot. Once connected, simply state, “Alexa, open Mayo Clinic Answers on Covid-19.” Alexa will then respond to questions about the coronavirus using knowledge from Mayo and the CDC.

Answers will include information on symptoms, prevention and how to cope in a hands-free way using only the voice ― “a fact that is especially important when we're trying to reduce the spread of a virus transmitted by physical contact,” said Dr. Sandhya Pruthi, medical director for Mayo's Health Education and Content Services.

This is Mayo’s second Amazon skill. The initial “Mayo Clinic First Aid” add-on provides users with voice-driven, self-care instructions for dozens of common medical occurrences, from conducting CPR to treating a burn.

Geneticure receives innovation grant

A promising Rochester startup received a boost this week thanks to a Minnesota DEED Launch Minnesota Innovation Grant.

Geneticure, Inc. was awarded $24,500 toward its mission of advancing personalized medicine via pharmacogenomics.

In all, the department doled out about a quarter of a million dollars in launch grants to 11 Minnesota startups this round. With the announcement, more than $1.2 million has now been awarded to Minnesota companies through Launch Minnesota Innovation Grants, with an additional $1.2 million being matched by private sources.

Sean Baker is a Rochester journalist and the founder of Med City Beat.