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Show 4 TUESDAY, MARCH TUBE SYSTEM continued from page THE DAILY UTAH CHRONICLE 6, 2001 1 goal of improving patient care," said hospital Administrative Director Don Milligan. "It will improve the speed and accuracy of getting products to and from patients. The whole goai is to improve the patient care experience. By reducing the time employees spend walking around, the hospital will increase the amount of time those employees can spend with patients. "So we have more hands being available, not more people walking," Milligan said. The hospital already has an existing tube system, albeit with limited scope. Tubes connect the blood bank to the Huntsman Cancer Institute and Primary Children's Medical Center. The pharmacy can likewise send materials to the Huntsman Institute via the tube. The tube system is comparable to h bank windows. Transfusion coordinator Kelly Kale inserts units of blood into the approximately drive-throug- transport module. She loads the module into the tube and enters a specific address into the tube's keypad. Blowers in the hospital basement then "whoosh" the module to its designated goal at 30 miles per hour. The word "pneumatic" comes from Greek meaning "wind" or "air." Hospital personnel will use the tubes primarily for lab specimens, pharmaceuticals and small patient-us- e items such as needles, Milligan said. The tube will be connected to area, every inpatient nursing-car- e which includes all ICUs and surgery areas, and all outpatient areas, like the emergency room and clinic. the infectious-diseas- e Installation of the system will cost approximately $500,000, a price tag that includes supplies and labor. To e avoid collisions, a software tube traffic. will mastermind package "We're not increasing personnel to maintain the system," Milligan said. high-volu- mid-tub- To manage operational concerns, the hospital will sign a maintenance contract that will cost "few thousand dollars a year," he continued. Milligan estimates the system will save the hospital 10,000 work-houper year by eliminating the need for runners. That translates into about rs $90,000. "Our goal is not to eliminate those people or their salaries, but to put them at the bedside or a bench where their specialties can be used," Milligan said. "The people are where they need to be to perform their service." Almost any hospital employee can function as a runner, depending on the need. Everyone at Fourth North, whether bedside nurse or unit secretary, has been a runner at one time, Phelps said. "The tube is going to increase the delivery of items from the pharmacyblood specimens and small items and eliminate the need for me to send down staff to go get these items. I can see where it's really going to improve patient care," Phelps said. Phelps expects turnaround time for new materials to go from eight minutes to one or two. Milligan esti rt mates intrahospital time will be 30 seconds. While Fourth North will be tubed by June, the hospital's goal for complete installation is September 2001. In the time between now and then, the hospital administration will evaluate and integrate existing specimen transport protocol into tube prototube-transpo- cols. "Once the tube is up, the processes will be refined so we hit the road running," Milligan said. Kale said she can't imagine what life was like before the tube, which the blood bank received two years ago. The transport modules she uses can fit two units of blood and a bag of ice. It takes about six minutes to get the module to the Huntsman Institute; otherwise someone with a cooler would have to the facilities, which could take half of an hour. "In my investigation, I have not seen any new hospital or major expansion occur in any hospital walk-betwee- n without the installation of the pneumatic tube system," Milligan said. "As labor expenses increase and as patient expectation increases too, this brings the efficiency that we must have." Specially Got a Clue? ,rSd Call Chronicle News. re,a0dy answer the telephones. 58I-7O- 4I www.iitahchrotiicle.com I " UNIVERSITY OF UTAH Recreation EXPO March 21 from 11 AM-- 3 PM Union Ballroom Gear Swap March 19 -- 21 Union Salt Air Room , ' ' A v -- '. .... : . , yrh nHsiit9im... HEAVY DUTY Uranium mines to water rights, Indians to pioneers is the real West. Explore classic Western issues this summer with ASPUT 2001. 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