Revamped approach to equipment at LGH brings big improvements

Wider, safer hallways and fewer homes for viruses come flu season are a couple of the key patient benefits that have come out of recent cooperative work at Lions Gate Hospital by care staff, Sterile Device Processing (SDP) staff and Aramark workers.

Stage One of the work, a massive version of spring cleaning across the LGH building, resulted in more than 3,300 pieces of equipment being removed from hallways and storage closets and taken down to be deep cleaned and/or stored centrally in LGH’s new Equipment Depot (EQD).

The equipment included a vast range of items, from IV pumps and poles, battery packs and rectal thermometers to bassinettes, bariatric commodes and several other rarely used pieces of equipment.

Stage Two focuses on wheelchair retrieval

Until the end of September, efforts will focus on locating and retrieving all wheelchairs (including parts) to the EQD Annex (a second storage room in Evergreen House). This new centralized location will again free up hallway space as well as enable the various wheelchair parts to be matched and reassembled.

New equipment request process is quick and easy

Another benefit to this new system has been staff’s ability to get access to needed equipment in a timely fashion. Of the 125+ equipment deliver requests received by the EQD in August, only one wasn’t able to be delivered within the 10-minute target (and that one involved a piece of equipment that hadn’t been returned to the EQD so a search was required).

The bottom line benefits: improved infection control, improved hallway safety for all users, bottom-line savings on equipment and improved user satisfaction. Seems like a clean sweep to me.