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Hospital outfitted with new wheelchair fleet

06/30/2017
Wheelchairs line a basement hallway at Uniontown Hospital Thursday as more than 300 new wheelchairs were placed into service.

Uniontown Hospital announced this week a new fleet of wheelchairs are now in use at the facility to better serve the needs of patients and visitors.

The hospital – under the direction of the Patient Transport Department – deployed more than 300 new wheelchairs this week at the 160-bed facility, allowing for ease of access for patients in need of assistance.

The wheelchairs, which were donated by Volunteer Services, have been distributed throughout the building to floors and departments and are color coded to help coordinate usage.

“We truly are experiencing a time of unprecedented growth at Uniontown Hospital and this is an extension of that growth,” CEO Steve Handy said. “We are grateful to our volunteers for providing the funding for this vital upgrade to our wheelchairs and we are happy to be able to help our patients get where they need to go with as little difficulty as possible.”

Handy said that the chairs are one piece of a larger plan to upgrade the entire hospital campus and continue to invest in the services the community depends on. 

“We are growing the core service lines that our patients rely on. We are investing in our partnerships in cardiology, cancer care and women’s services. We are investing in the tools and equipment our facility needs continue to grow as the gateway for the health care needs of Fayette County. We are investing in the nurses and physicians to provide the care our patients expect – exceptional care from friends, neighbors and family. This is an exciting time at Uniontown Hospital.”

An additional cache of chairs will be provided to the Main Entrance of the facility to assist patients and visitors as they enter.

The new chairs come just weeks in advance of the scheduled launch of the Will Ride Campus Shuttle program next month.

That new service will feature 6-seat electric golf carts – complete with roofs and doors – which will be used to assist patients and visitors from parking lots to the hospital entrance.

The Will Ride carts will be piloted by volunteer staff and will make regular rounds through the patient and visitor parking lots on the hospital campus to assist folks to the Main Entrance.

The “car to curb” shuttle service will operate daily, Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

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