All hospitals need to deal with occasions where “surge capacity,” or the ability to manage a sudden influx of patients, is put to the test. But in the case of Deer Valley Medical Center, a 204-bed hospital that serves a dense and steadily growing population in Phoenix, Arizona, heavy demand and strained resources are more the rule than the exception.

“Our surge is every day,” said Fred Lindenmuth, manager of plant operations for the hospital, which is part of the HonorHealth network of five acute care hospitals and multiple outpatient care centers. He says flu season and the influx of “snowbirds” from other parts of the country looking to escape harsh winters only add to the strain on resources – and space.

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Extra beds need to be available at a moment’s notice. The problem is: what to do with all those beds in the moments when they’re not needed. “Storage issues really have been a challenge,” said Lindenmuth.

 

Like many hospitals, Deer Valley’s answer used to be cramming unused beds wherever they’d fit in crowded corridors and hallways throughout the building. But that can be dicey, particularly in a heavily-regulated industry that includes spot inspections and strict rules on access and patient transport.

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Deer Valley found a new answer in the Vidir Bedlift, a storage solution designed to securely stack hospital beds off the floor in a vertical arrangement. “We got a 12-bed system and that immediately freed up more space,” said Lindenmuth. “Otherwise, those beds would still be sitting in hallways.”

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The space-saving system has made it easier to have the right number of beds available for patient use at any given moment, without clogging hallways and meeting the standards set out in NFPA 101 - Life Safety Code alleviating the risk of fines from regulators and demerits from Accreditation programs such as HFAP or JHACO.

 

It also saved Lindenmuth and his operations colleagues from agonizing over whether to get rid of older, but still usable, beds just to save space.

 

The Vidir Bedlift uses a LIFO – “last in, first out” – system that can be operated by a single person at the push of a button. Options include anti-microbial paint to reduce the spread of disease, preventive maintenance packages and adapter inserts that allow storage of narrow stretchers along with full sized beds.

 

“I’m glad somebody thought of it,” said Lindenmuth. “It solved one of our problems, and whenever you can solve a problem in healthcare, that’s a good thing.”