Health Facilities Management magazine and the American Society for Healthcare Environmental Services are accepting applications through June 4 for the 2010 Environmental Services Department of the Year Award. The annual award recognizes hospital environmental services/housekeeping teams for outstanding performance in 13 critical areas. The winning department will be profiled in Health Facilities Management and recognized at the ASHES Annual Conference Sept. 26-30 in Nashville. "Environmental services/housekeeping departments are on the front lines of a hospital's success in patient satisfaction, infection prevention and safety," said ASHES Executive Director Patti Costello. "Nationally recognizing the contributions made by ES departments makes a strong statement to the important and critical role the ES staff plays during a patient's visit to a hospital." ASHES is an AHA personal membership group. Health Facilities Management is published by the AHA's Health Forum subsidiary.