A conversation with Teodora Ginga, Product Manager for Point-of-Use Water Filtration at Pall Medical, on how the healthcare water safety conversation is expanding beyond compliance and toward a broader understanding of risk.

For decades, healthcare water safety has focused on compliance, regulations and Legionella control. Those remain essential. But a recent webinar led by Dr. Susanne Surman has challenged healthcare organizations to take a broader view of risk and focus more directly on patient protection.

We spoke with Teodora Ginga, Product Manager for Point-of-Use Water Filtration at Pall Medical, about why healthcare water safety is evolving from a technical discussion into a patient safety discussion.

About Teodora

Before joining Product Management, Teodora Marta Ginga spent nearly seven years working across technical sales, field sales, and commercial roles within Pall Medical. Today, as Product Manager for Point-of-Use Water Filtration, she combines engineering expertise with customer and market insights to support healthcare organizations in addressing water-related patient safety risks. Teodora holds a BEng in Innovation Engineering from the University of Portsmouth and recently completed a Mini MBA in Marketing.

To better understand how the healthcare water safety conversation is changing, we posed five questions to Teodora. From the limits of compliance to the impact of climate change, her answers highlight why patient protection is becoming the new focus of water safety programs.

1. The title of this interview raises an important question. Can compliant water still leave patients at risk?

Teodora:
Compliance is where healthcare water safety begins, but it does not necessarily end there. A water system can meet regulatory requirements and still leave important questions about patient protection unanswered. This is particularly relevant for highly vulnerable patients, including those in neonatal, transplant, and critical care settings. Increasingly, healthcare organizations are shifting their focus from "Does the system comply?" to "Are we doing enough to protect the patient?"

Compliance tells us whether the system passed. Patient safety asks whether the patient is protected.

2. Many people still associate healthcare water safety mainly with Legionella. Has the discussion become broader?

Teodora:
Very much so. Legionella remains extremely important, but today's healthcare water discussions are broader than they were ten or twenty years ago. We are now talking more about patient exposure, environmental reservoirs, sinks, drains, wastewater systems and how water is used during patient care. The focus is shifting from the water system alone to the full pathway between the system and the patient.

I sometimes joke that the tap gets all the attention while the drain quietly hopes nobody notices it.

3. What has surprised you personally since entering healthcare water safety?

Teodora:
What surprised me most was how often the starting point is not the water system itself. Coming into the field, I naturally focused on technology, filtration performance, and infrastructure. But over time, I learned that many investigations begin with a different question: Where and how could a patient have been exposed? That shifts the perspective completely. Instead of looking only at pipes, taps, or water quality results, you start looking at clinical activities, environmental reservoirs, healthcare practices, and patient vulnerability. The discussion becomes much broader than compliance alone. For me, that has been one of the most valuable lessons. Healthcare water safety is ultimately not just about understanding a system. It is about understanding risk from the patient's perspective.

"The starting point is no longer the water system. It's the patient."

4. How is Pall Medical changing as this conversation evolves?

Teodora:
In many ways, the same shift is happening inside our industry. As a Product Manager, my natural focus is the POU water filter itself. I need to understand the technology, its performance and how it can help healthcare organizations manage risk. What excites me today is the growing role of our Clinical and Water Specialists. Many of them have spent years working directly at the patient’s bedside and bring a much broader perspective. When they look at a water safety challenge, they don't just think about filtration. They think about patient vulnerability, clinical workflows and patient outcomes. Many also touch areas such as IV therapy and respiratory care. Their focus is patient safety across the entire care pathway, not just one product category.

I think that reflects a broader change happening across healthcare. The conversation is becoming less product-focused and much more patient-focused.

5. Looking ahead, how could climate change influence water safety and outbreaks?

Teodora:
Climate change is likely to make water safety an even more important topic in the years ahead. We are already seeing growing discussion around how rising temperatures, flooding, droughts and extreme weather events can alter the environmental conditions that influence the survival, growth and transmission of water-associated pathogens.¹

What I find particularly interesting is that the impact is not the same for every microorganism. Recent scientific reviews suggest that different bacteria, viruses and parasites may respond differently to changing environmental conditions, making risk assessment more complex than simply if all water-related risks will increase in the same way.

Importantly, this is not only a hospital issue. Water safety begins in the wider community. Climate-related pressures on water infrastructure, water availability and environmental reservoirs can influence exposure risks long before a patient enters a healthcare facility.

For healthcare organizations, I believe this reinforces the importance of resilience and proactive risk management. The conversation is gradually shifting from reacting to known hazards toward anticipating emerging ones. As environmental conditions change, organizations will need water safety programs that are adaptable, evidence-based and focused on protecting vulnerable patients.

"The future challenge may not simply be managing known risks. It may be preparing for risks that are changing with the environment around us."

Final Thought

Teodora:
Healthcare water safety is ultimately about people, not pipes. The science, the technology and the regulations are all important. But at the end of the day, every decision should come back to one simple question: 

"Are we doing everything we can to protect the patient?" 

For me, that is also how I think about my role as a Product Manager. It is not only about developing a filter. It is about asking whether we are doing everything we can, from a filtration perspective, to help healthcare organizations protect their patients. Ultimately, that is what matters most.

References

1. Levy K, Kann RS, Carlton EJ. Waterborne diseases and climate change. Nat Rev Microbiol. 2026 Sep;24(9):622-636. doi: 10.1038/s41579-026-01338-3. Epub 2026 Jul 3. PMID: 42399506.

Author bio

Dr. Luibl is a Sr. Marketing Manager Medical Content with knowledge in medical device and clinical science.