Magnolia Regional Medical Center Chooses Tyco SimplexGrinnell
as Healthcare Communications and Life-Safety Provider
Advanced healthcare
communications and
life-safety solution
When Magnolia Regional Medical Center
replaced a 75-year-old hospital with a
brand new facility in February 2010, it
marked a new era in healthcare for this
rural area in Southwestern Arkansas.
The new state-of-the-art medical center
features an array of advanced technology
systems, including a packaged
communications and life-safety solution
from Tyco SimplexGrinnell. The Tyco
SimplexGrinnell systems, chosen by a
cross-functional committee that oversaw
the building construction project, include
nurse call, infant security, IR/RF staff and
equipment location, wireless telephones
and pagers, access control, video
surveillance and fire alarm.
The medical center, owned by the
City of Magnolia, is pleased with the
systems and support it has received
from Tyco SimplexGrinnell. In particular,
administrators appreciate the value of
working with one provider capable of
delivering a single-source solution to help
the hospital enhance safety, security,
staff responsiveness and efficiency, and
patient satisfaction.
“As a relatively small, rural hospital,
it is vitally important that we utilize
today’s advanced technologies to help
serve and protect our patients and
staff,” says Margaret West, CEO of
the medical center, which provides
medical-surgical specialties that include
family medicine, internal medicine,
general medicine pediatrics, OB/Gyn,
cardiology, gastroenterology, audiology,
general surgery, ophthalmologic surgery,
orthopedic surgery, ENT surgery and
podiatric surgery. “In that regard, we
appear to be well above the norm for a
facility of our size. In fact, we are proudly
using these new systems and associated
safety procedures as marketing tools
when speaking to the community and
our peers in the industry.”
“The SimplexGrinnell team helped walk
us through the process,” says Joycelyn
Watkins, Chief Nursing Officer at
Magnolia. “They were very approachable,
answering all our questions and making
us feel quite comfortable with how
each system functioned. The systems
layout and installation work they did was
completed and tested in just over six
months.”
West echoes those same sentiments:
“We knew we were stepping into
technology that was light years from
where we had been. The SimplexGrinnell
team has done everything expected of
them … and more. Moving forward with
this latest technology can seem daunting,
but the SimplexGrinnell people made
the entire process so much easier and
enabled us to quickly incorporate these
new technologies into our day-to-day
operations.”
Customer Benefits:
// Advanced healthcare
communications and lifesafety solution
// Includes nurse call, infant security,
staff and equipment location,
wireless telephones and pagers,
security and fire alarm
// Healthcare communications
solution has helped improve staff
responsiveness
// Administrators appreciate the
value of a single-source provider
with end-to-end capabilitie
// Excellent support from the
Tyco SimplexGrinnell team
// Solution considered a
technology showcase
Beyond Tyco SimplexGrinnell’s strong
healthcare communications solution,
the medical center liked the idea of
using a single-source provider with
end-to-end capabilities that encompass
Safer. Smarter. Tyco.™
Magnolia Regional Medical Center
sales, layout, installation, service and
support. Administrators saw an added
advantage in being able to build a close,
trusting relationship with the local Tyco
SimplexGrinnell office in Little Rock – one
of 150 company-owned locations in the
United States and Canada.
Healthcare Communications Systems
Help Improve Responsiveness
Tyco SimplexGrinnell’s EZCare VITALTouch
Nurse Call System combines ease of
use with advanced features and options
to provide a completely integrated
communications system. Its full duplex
voice transmission reduces errors and
speeds response time. The system’s
intuitive touch screen technology puts
patient data and care information literally at
the staff’s fingertips, enabling them to take
fast, precise action. Hospital staff simply
touch the screen to: create immediate,
accurate voice connections with one
or more caregivers; dispatch patient
requests to wireless devices; pinpoint staff
locations; and quickly make staff to patient
assignments at shift change.
“Our ability to integrate nurse call
with other systems has resulted in
a truly comprehensive and powerful
communications solution,” says West. “For
example, our new SimplexGrinnell nurse
locator enables us to locate people and
equipment in seconds, helping improve
staff efficiency and patient satisfaction.
This technology eliminates wasted steps
and prolonged searches, as well as the
frustration of trying to contact staff via
(traditional) telephone. And we can even
coordinate housecleaning services through
our new integrated system.”
With nurse locator, sensors in patient
rooms and hallways detect the presence
of personnel badges and equipment
tags that emit unique ID codes. Their
locations are displayed in real time on
the floor plan screen at the nurse master
station. So as individuals move about the
facility, the system automatically updates
their positions on the touch screen. The
badges permit standard patient calls to be
canceled automatically, without the need
for staff to touch any buttons in the room.
Special badges with a duress button are
available for staff to alert colleagues of an
emergency situation.
CNO Joycelyn Watkins says: “These
locator and communications systems have
significantly enhanced our responsiveness
throughout the facility. The printouts
of staff visits with patients have been
invaluable, and we are getting very high
satisfaction scores from patients.”
Infant Security
As Magnolia undertook the building project,
it recognized the importance of improving
infant security in the medical center’s OB
(obstetrics) department. Ms. Watkins says
the infant security system provided by
SimplexGrinnell is an excellent solution.
Fire Alarm, Security and
Communications
As part of an effort to improve life safety
and property protection, the Magnolia team
was committed to modernizing its fire and
security systems as well. Toward that end,
Tyco SimplexGrinnell was selected to install
the Simplex 4100U Fire Alarm System, an
advanced fire detection and alarm system
well suited for healthcare facilities. At the
same time, Magnolia took the next step
in enhancing staff and patient security
through the installation of a number of
advanced security and communications
systems from Tyco SimplexGrinnell.
These include:
•
IP Video Surveillance, which unlike
analog closed circuit television
(CCTV) cameras can send and
receive data via a computer
network and the Internet. This new
and sophisticated digital video
management system operates as
the hub for video management,
recording and investigation.
•
Access Control System and
Video Intercom – Door Release, a
technology that can utilize multiple
computer-based systems, smart
cards, biometric devices, and video
– all linked together via an enterprisewide IP-based network.
•
A variety of state-of-the-art internal
communications systems that
include Wireless Paging; Overhead
Paging; Video WIFI Telephoning and
more.
A Life-Safety Showcase
West is extremely proud of what has
been accomplished in the new Magnolia
Regional Medical Center, both in terms
of the brick and mortar construction and
the advanced technology for healthcare
communications and life-safety systems.
Magnolia even promoted its solution at a
recent gathering of the Arkansas Hospital
Association, showing members how it has
used technology to enhance safety and
security and improve patient satisfaction.
Looking forward, West says the hospital
expects to have SimplexGrinnell service
its systems when the warranty period is
up. “It is a pleasure working with a team
as responsible and professional as they
have been,” she says. “I would without
hesitation recommend them to other
healthcare facilities that are looking to
utilize today’s advanced technologies and
systems.”
We’re here to help
For more information on how we can
support your business or institution
through state-of-the art life safety,
call us at 1-800-746-7539. Or visit
www.tycosimplexgrinnell.com.
Corporate Sales and Marketing
50 Technology Drive • Westminster, MA 01441-0001
Tel: (978) 731-2500 • Toll Free: 1-800-746-7539
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