New hospital beds rolling into KGH

They may not be the most glamorous piece of hospital equipment, but that’s not stopping the excitement from building about the arrival of many new patient care beds.

The new High-Low beds are called the Advanta 2 and Kingston General Hospital (KGH) has just purchased 105 of them from the manufacturer Hill-Rom. They will be delivered starting on March 10, with 35 beds arriving each week for three weeks. Davies 5 will be the first unit to receive a shipment of the new beds, followed by Connell 10 and 9 and then Kidd 9.

“Hospital beds play an important role in both the patient and staff experience,” says Lori Proulx, Lead Interprofessional Education Advisor (Interim). “The average lifespan of a hospital bed is about 15 years, so it’s a good time to start replacing them.”

The new beds have the latest design and technology built into them to promote both safety and comfort. For patients, they have a special mattress that’s designed to prevent skin breakdown. They also have easy to grip ergonomic side handles, big and easy to use positioning controls, and a convenient storage compartment built into the railing.

The new beds can also easily convert into a dining chair or a full chair, along with several other positions.

For staff, the new beds will be easier to move and adjust. They can also easily be extended for taller patients and have a built-in scale to weigh patients. For safety, they also have a bed exit alarm system to help prevent patient falls and technology that will allow the beds to eventually be connected into our call bell system. They also have an IV line manager to keep lines untangled and out of the way.

“The hospital put a lot of effort into making sure we choose the right bed for our needs and patients were involved in the decision making,” says Proulx. “We started by looking at five different beds and from there we tested out three of them and gathered patient and staff satisfaction feedback on each of them. The Advanta 2 came out on top.”

Along with the beds we are buying now at a cost of about $800,000, plans are underway to invest in another 100 of them next fiscal year. Eventually, the goal will be to get KGH up to about 400 new beds over the next few years and from there to replace them on a more regular schedule.