< Back to News

Hospital announces all new patient beds

03/30/2018
Hospital employees work to prepare a new bed to be placed in a patient room.

Uniontown Hospital introduced all-new patient beds into their facility this week to better serve patients and staff, adding yet another component to inpatient unit renovations that have encompassed everything from beds to building upgrades over the past two years.

The more than 160 beds arrived at the hospital over three days to allow staff to transition current patients into the new equipment.

“This upgrade, which cost close to $1.5 million to complete, is another way we are investing in Fayette County and our patients,” Uniontown Hospital CEO Steve Handy said. “The beds are a significant improvement over our old models and they are a large piece of our renovations to our inpatient units. Now, all of our 160 inpatient rooms are private and remodeled with wood laminate flooring and natural, calming colors and tones. Each room features a new bed, a new wheelchair, a pullout sleeper sofa, a framed image from the Laurel Highlands,  – all done in an effort to provide an environment that promotes healing and makes a patient’s time here as pleasant as possible.”

The new beds were delivered just nine months after more than 300 new wheelchairs were introduced to the facility, and shortly after all renovations to inpatient units were completed.

“Our new beds will not only provide our patients with a more comfortable mattress, each mattress can also be converted into an airbed by simply attaching a pump at the bottom of the mattress,” said Betty Ann Rock, Executive Director of Nursing Services and Chief Nursing Officer at Uniontown Hospital.

“This conversion is done to help prevent pressure injuries before they happen,” Rock explained.

She said that the new beds, manufactured by Stryker, are also several inches longer than beds that had been in use to accommodate taller patients and added that the new beds also adapt with a bed extender for exceptionally tall patients, if needed.

She said another unique feature is an alarm light system that will assist nurses in checking on patients.

“When using bed alarms for fall prevention the bed has a green and red light system that can be easily viewed by staff to alert them if fall bed alarms are not reset. This will save them from making the physical inspection of the bed to ensure that alarms are set and provide less disruption for patients,” she said.

The hospital donated the beds that had been in use for $200 each to Green River Medical, who will then ship them for distribution in underdeveloped countries. A few beds are also being donated to Fayette EMS for their use, as well as Dialysis Clinic Incorporated.

“We are glad that the beds we are removing, which are still fully functional, will be able to help serve others,” Rock said.

Handy reiterated that the new beds are one piece of the hospital’s mission, which includes investing in the services the community depends on. 

“We are growing the core service lines that our patients rely on and advancing renovations to the hospital campus. 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 for which our community counts on us. We are making a healthy difference in the lives that we touch,” Handy said.

Download PDF