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Industry News Briefs
5 Steps on the Road to Smart Buildings
A common misconception is that using smart devices or Building Internet of Things (IoT) technologies within a facility is enough to position that space as a smart building. In reality, an intelligent building is a set of dynamically connected smart systems made interoperable through a platform that accumulates, shares, detects, analyzes, anticipates, and acts upon the collective smart building data.
A single smart device or piece of equipment can’t make a building intelligent. Instead, IoT devices are intended to serve as components that can be linked together to form a truly intelligent building. The intelligent building connects cutting-edge IoT components to a core, creating a common building platform, with the components working as an orchestra. When enabled to share their specialized data through an open-source data platform, smart building systems become collectively intelligent and their effectiveness increases exponentially.
Facilitiesnet, more...
IoT – The Prescription to Keeping Workers and Patients Safe on Hospital Construction Jobsites
According to an industry article, in 2018, a dozen hospitals and health systems announced or unveiled facility expansions and renovations with price tags of $1 billion or more – and, according to another trade publication, there’s currently about $400 billion in healthcare construction underway around the world.
Construction renovation projects seem to be on the rise at hospitals across the country for several reasons. With state-of-the-art facilities, hospitals can more effectively compete in a growing marketplace; better meet patient satisfaction; attract world-class doctors; and stay current with codes and regulations.
Healthcare Facilities Today, more...
Dry Hydrogen Peroxide: A Novel Delivery of an Effective Microbial Reduction Agent for Environmental Cleaning
It is widely acknowledged that contaminated surfaces, particularly those that are high-tough or high-use, pose an infection transmission risk in healthcare facilities. Additionally, studies over the past decade have demonstrated that traditional healthcare facility environmental cleaning and microbial reduction methods are inadequate, particularly in the face of rising numbers of antimicrobial resistant organisms.
As a result, there has been a tremendous focus on optimizing cleaning protocols and deployment of new microbial reduction technologies, many of which have demonstrated impressive results in published studies. Even with these advancements, some significant challenges remain.
The vast majority of these efforts have centered around terminal cleaning of patient rooms. This is only part of a successful microbial reduction strategy, though, as portable equipment transferred between patient rooms and healthcare workers themselves, via contact with high-touch/high-use surfaces can serve as vectors for transmission.
Healthcare Facilities Today, more . . .
New Hospital Near Washington Opening Soon within ‘Science Gateway’
As medical needs continue to increase across the United States, so does construction for healthcare facilities. The nation spent more than $41 billion on the construction of healthcare facilities in 2018, and spending is on track for more than $43 billion in 2019.
The reasons for the continued rise in healthcare construction spending are rooted in demographics. The U.S. Census expects that by 2034, people 65 and older will outnumber those under the age of 18, for the first time ever. The number of Medicare enrollments are expected to increase nearly 50 percent by 2030, and demographic shifts indicate a critical need for more medical office space.
Healthcare Facilities Today, more . . .
Miami Beach Hospital Designed for Resiliency
Mount Sinai Medical Center, the largest private, independent, not-for-profit teaching hospital in South Florida, opened the new seven-story Skolnick Surgical Tower and 34,000-square-foot Hildebrandt Emergency Center on its main campus earlier this month.
The $275 million construction project combines highly advanced diagnostic technologies and treatments with a tranquil and healing environment, designed to enhance the patient, caregiver and visitor experience.
The Skolnick Surgical Tower houses 12 integrated operating rooms (OR) with technology that promotes personalization for both patients and surgeons. Communication systems within each OR allows for seamless communication with the control booth, pathology room and between the ORs themselves. The system can even broadcast audio and video to other locations, including internationally. The tower also includes a two-story atrium, public courtyard, and 154 private patient rooms each with a bay view.
Health Facilities Management, more. . .
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