In a healthcare facility, no surface can afford to be overlooked—including the floor. Yet floors remain one of the most under addressed surfaces when it comes to infection prevention and cross-contamination risk. That’s a gap CenoBots is working to close, and it’s a key reason the company is a proud sponsor of the 2026 ISSA Healthcare Surfaces Summit, taking place May 5-6, 2026, at ISSA headquarters in Rosemont, Illinois.

“Floors are an extremely high-touch surface,” said Linda Lybert, executive director of the ISSA Healthcare Surfaces Institute. “We rarely talk about them, and it’s probably one of the most overlooked surfaces in a healthcare facility.”

A purpose-built solution for a demanding environment

Founded in 2021 by engineer Michael Wang, CenoBots was built around a clear mission: design durable, high-performance, technologically advanced cleaning equipment for industries ready to embrace automation. Healthcare is among the most important of those industries.

Bill Fisher, executive vice president of North American sales and operations for CenoBots, said the company’s goals align directly with the priorities driving the Healthcare Surfaces Summit.

“When you take a look at the Healthcare Surfaces Summit, they are looking at advanced science, innovation, and solutions in the cleaning area,” Fisher said. “That is exactly where we excel as a company.”

CenoBots’ robotic floor care systems are designed to be programmable and adaptable, mapping facility layouts and consistently moving through different zones. That kind of repeatability matters in healthcare settings where cleaning frequency and thoroughness are directly tied to patient safety outcomes.

Redefining how labor is used

One of the most compelling arguments for autonomous floor care in healthcare isn’t just what the robots do — it’s what they free people to do instead. Fisher pointed to labor reallocation as a central benefit.

“Thirty percent of labor budget is dedicated to the cleaning of floors,” he said. “What robotics is going to do is give folks more time to spend on critical areas in the healthcare environment.”

Rather than replacing cleaning staff, CenoBots positions its technology as a force multiplier—redirecting human attention toward patient rooms, high-touch surfaces, and areas that demand judgment and care that only trained professionals can provide.

Collaboration as a guiding principle

CenoBots’ decision to sponsor the Healthcare Surfaces Summit reflects more than a marketing opportunity. Fisher described it as an extension of how the company develops its technology—through direct engagement with the people using it in the field.

“We have a company belief that a lot of what we’re going to be designing for the future is going to come from people that are working in that environment,” Fisher said. “It’s important for us to be engaged with the professionals we’ve associated with for many years in the healthcare environment.”

Lybert echoed that sentiment, noting that the summit itself is structured around collaboration and problem-solving rather than traditional conference programming.

“Our role really becomes: let’s collaborate, let’s work together, let’s understand the gaps, and let’s develop solutions that work,” she said. “That’s why it’s so important for sponsors like Bill to be able to truly talk about their innovation, to hear from the people that would be using it, and to begin to figure out how to do it so that we start saving lives.”

Don’t miss the summit

The 2026 ISSA Healthcare Surfaces Summit is scheduled for May 5–6 at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, Illinois. With only 120 seats available and attendance filling quickly, Lybert encouraged interested professionals to register soon.

“It’s a great time to network, to work with colleagues and partners around the gaps and issues that exist in healthcare that are not typically talked about,” she said. “And you’ll find the summit is very different than any other conference.”

For more information or to register, visit the ISSA Healthcare Surfaces Summit site here.