Grant Provides for New Hospital Beds
Posted on Friday, July 7th, 2023
Artwork depicts the Centrella Smart+
beds on order for Mercy Health Love County
Hospital.
Upscale new hospital beds are on order for Mercy Health Love County Hospital. Director of Nursing Marie Ross calls them the “Cadillac version” of beds that have been in use since 2006.
Hill-Rom Centrella Smart+ beds soon will arrive, thanks to a grant from the Southern Oklahoma Memorial Foundation (SOMF) in Ardmore. The funds are enabling the Marietta hospital to replace 15 of the 20 beds in the nursing wing, according to W. Scott Callender, hospital administrator and CEO.
“We are very grateful to SOMF for granting us the funds. The new beds will benefit patients and help nurses monitor their condition and keep them safe,” Callender said.
Ross said the medical staff is elated for the Centrella bed’s comfort settings for patients and the built in sensors that will communicate to nurses important information about patient conditions.
A sensor for patient movement allows nurses to set a bed exit alarm. The alarm sounds at the nurses’ station if a patient tries to leave the bed. Deploying an auto reset feature automatically returns the exit alarm to the “on” position when the patient is back in bed.
A feature called “Safe View” projects lights on the floor beneath the foot section. Hill-Rom account executive Jeff Harris explained, “The settings reveal three things: Is the bed in the lowest position? That is the position that is safest for patients in fall prevention. Is the bed exit alarm system set? Are the siderails up or down according to hospital protocol?
“Anybody can glance at the three lights and see the state of the bed. A light flashing green is good, but yellow indicates a setting is incorrect and needs to be addressed.”
The bed also has an accessory outlet for patients to charge their mobile devices, and a device-storage compartment.
For the convenience of nurses, the touch screen technology at the bedside guides them on how to enter or change bed settings. “It doesn’t just beep when a setting is incorrect,” Harris said. “It gives a screen reminder with steps for correcting the setting.”
Nurses can set and monitor the head-of-bed-angle, an important consideration for patients with breathing problems. Each bed is 36 wide and 86.7” in length with motorized foot extension up to 98.7.” The head section, thigh section, and foot section have separate incline settings.
Patients weighing 70-500 pounds can be accommodated. The beds are all electric (no hydraulic system) and can be adjusted to a chair position. A Foley limit setting will prevent a catheter bag from touching the floor.
“The smart bed is like having another set of eyes on the patient,” Ross said. “The nurses are so happy.”
Ross said the average life of a hospital bed is 10 years, and while the current stock has served the nursing floor well, repairs were becoming more frequent.
“We are thrilled to have received this grant from SOMF,” she said.
Southern Oklahoma Memorial Foundation was formed in 1950 to help construct Memorial Hospital in Ardmore. When the hospital was purchased by Mercy Health Systems in 1996, the Foundation was the recipient of the net-sales proceeds, and the organization converted to a private, grantmaking foundation. The Foundation funds a variety of organizations while giving priority to health care non-profits.