Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) remain a significant challenge to patient safety worldwide. Over the past decade, contaminated inanimate surfaces have been recognized as a major source of infections in susceptible patients and a primary pathway for healthcare workers’ hand contamination. The critical role of healthcare environmental hygiene in infection prevention and control (IPC) has been re-evaluated and is now considered one of the important non-pharmacological interventions (NPIs) for patient safety and HAI prevention in healthcare facilities. Improving the environmental hygiene of healthcare facilities can not only significantly reduce the incidence of HAIs and the colonization rates of pathogens in patients, but also demonstrate substantial cost-effectiveness. These perspectives have gained widespread consensus within the industry. This article aims to explore the historical evolution of environmental hygiene in healthcare facilities, the substantial progress achieved, and the key directions for future development, providing references for research and practice in related fields.