Press releases

Released February 15, 2002
Yale-New Haven Hospital news release

Yale-New Haven Hospital installs 96 "super beds"

For more information, call 203-688-2493 or E-mail Mark D'Antonio

Yale-New Haven Hospital is the first hospital in Connecticut to purchase a large quantity of a new line of beds designed to reduce the risk of health care-associated pneumonia and caregiver back injury. The TotalCare SpO2RT^™ Pulmonary Therapy System, manufactured by Hill-Rom of Indiana, features a high-tech bed frame with a newly designed mattress, combined with percussion and vibration therapy modes, which help prevent and treat pulmonary and skin complications that can afflict patients who are bedridden for long periods of time.

These TotalCare beds can lower closer to the ground than any other bed on the market and convert into a seated position, making it easier for patients to get to their feet following surgeries or procedures. The beds have a turn-assist feature that makes it easier to position patients for back care, linen changes and routine nursing procedures, at the same time reducing back injuries for caregivers.

The new beds offer continuous lateral rotation therapy--a big benefit to patients at risk of pulmonary complications. Once the individual is properly aligned on the mattress, the frame can tilt and pulsate, helping to clear secretions from the lungs.

Another unique feature is the bed's computer-driven menu screen, which provides access to therapy status and statistics, weight history and preset bed positions.

"The TotalCare beds will not only do wonders for our ICU patients during their recovery, but will also allow nurses to spend more time on the individual needs of each patient," said Paula Jurewicz, RN, patient services manager for the Medical Intensive Care Unit.

The adult intensive care units (ICUs) and step-down units house 86 of the beds, and the other 10 are on floors with pulmonary patients who can benefit from rotation and percussion therapy. The total care beds are expected to reduce ICU and hospital length of stay, ventilator days and cost of care associated with immobility and hospital-acquired pulmonary complications, while dramatically increasing patient comfort. In addition, the TotalCare beds should reduce the need for and overall cost of renting specialized beds and equipment to treat pulmonary patients.

For more information, please contact Mark D'Antonio at (203) 688-2493.

Yale-New Haven Hospital in New Haven, Conn., is a 944-bed not-for-profit hospital serving as the primary teaching hospital for the Yale University School of Medicine. Yale-New Haven was founded as the fourth voluntary hospital in the United States in 1826, and today the hospital complex includes the Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital and the Yale Psychiatric Hospital, with a combined medical staff of about 2,400 university and community physicians practicing in more than 100 specialties.

Return to News Release Index

Home page URL: http://www.ynhh.org

All information is intended for your general knowledge and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for specific medical conditions. You should seek prompt medical care for any specific health issues and consult your physician before starting a new fitness regimen.