Conway Medical Center
in Conway, South Carolina
Five triage room floors were replaced while patients were lying in the next room over. Installation was completed with no complaints of noise or smell and no sanitary issues have occurred since.
REAL PROJECTS, REAL SOLUTIONS.
A BREAKTHROUGH IN HOW TO KEEP MEDICAL FACILITY FLOORS SANITIZED AT ALL TIMES
Expert Reveals How You Can Replace Failing Floors for Good Without Closing Down the Wing During Construction
After working in the engineering department for the Conway Medical Center (CMC) since 1990, Donna Richardson understands what it takes to run a smooth medical facility. She’ witnessed building materials that have lasted for decades, and other material that didn’t last a year. Trends coming and going. New wings being built and older ones being torn down or renovated beyond recognition.
After almost three decades of keeping the CMC operational and sanitary, she understands there is one universal guarantee… something is going to break most days and need fixing fast! Especially in high-traffic areas, like triage rooms, that are open 24/7 and usually operate at full capacity around the clock. Because of the non-stop traffic, gurneys being rolled over the same spots, the constant spilling of liquids, bodily fluids, and blood onto the floor, it is critical that the flooring material used is able to handle the barrage of abuse. Sadly, the vinyl tile on the CMC triage floors were coming loose from the substrate due to the hospital-grade glue failing, causing seams to open up and expose the substrate below.
Located in Conway, South Carolina, the Conway Medical Center is a nonprofit medical center that has 210 inpatient beds; a 66-bed long-term care facility, Kingston Nursing Center and a 22-bed sub-acute care facility, Medstar. Employing over 1400, CMC is one of the county’s largest employers. The facility’s medical staff is comprised of approximately 200 physicians, representing 30 specialties. With an annual patient volume of nearly 55,000 visits, CMC’s Emergency Department is a full service 34 bed Emergency Department that is operational 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
CMC earned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) ENERGY STAR certification which signifies that the building performs in the top 25 percent of similar facilities nationwide for energy efficiency and meets strict energy efficiency performance levels set by the EPA. CMC is only one of three hospitals in the state to earn this designation and only one of 186 nationwide.
Despite the use of hospital-grade adhesive, the vinyl tile flooring material was starting to come loose and seams were opening up, especially in where gurneys are in constant use. With open sores in the floor, the risk for bacteria growing rapidly spurred the maintenance staff to find a flooring solution right away.
With seams being the most vulnerable part of any floor, any damage to the sealing components will start a chain reaction. More adhesive will start to degrade, causing more seams to come apart and in general… make the floor extremely unsanitary (and potentially break a few health codes).
FACILITY
KEY POINTS
EPA’s Energy Star Certification
EPA’s Energy Star Certification
298 Bed Facility
The Costly Truth Behind Selecting
The Wrong Flooring Material
Shutting down an emergency room, much less a series of rooms, is quite costly. Not only for the hospital, but also for the community that relies on accessing these rooms in times of dire need.
The challenge with replacing a floor is that you need the entire area cleared of equipment. But it gets worse. If you’re required to remove the old flooring material, it can be more time-consuming and quite dusty. Needless to say, you can’t expose seriously ill patients to harmful construction particles, so you might be forced to close down the entire wing for days, or even weeks, just to allow the crew to replace the failed flooring material.
But, what if you could have a seamless floor that lasts for decades? No vinyl seams that come apart? No grout lines that crack and absorb various liquids into the floor? And, what if you didn’t have to remove the old flooring material before installing the new floor?
Powerful Advantages You’ll Gain From
an Everlast Industrial Floor
When Donna went through the process of finding the right flooring material
to replace the failing vinyl, certain criteria had to be met, including:
Meet and exceed hospital hygiene requirements with an EPA registered antimicrobial additive that restricts the growth of microorganisms.
Be exceptionally durable because the material is saturated in epoxy resin (4x more resin than most competitors) and provide extra strength through added aggregate, eliminating heavy traffic and gurney damage that needs to be repaired.
Odorless during installation, so she wouldn’t have to close down that wing of the hospital.
Prevent staff and patients from slipping on the floor because the right amount of anti-slip components were added into the mixture.
Prevent existing bacteria and nasty smells in the old floor from escaping through the new flooring material.
Remain attractive for decades and brighten up the room to help ease stressful patients.
Employ leading-edge chemical resistance components to combat wear and tear caused by strong detergents, chemicals and disinfectants.
Apply the system straight over the existing vinyl tile, so less down time was needed to install because the installation crew can skip the removal phase.
The ability to go up walls, sealing off corners, holes, and the old floor.
Be easier to clean because the antimicrobial components won’t allow bacteria, mold, and other unsanitary conditions to materialize and risk the life of a patient, as well as reducing the time each triage room needs to be shut down when cleaning.
Because the Everlast Industrial Floor is a hand-troweled epoxy flooring material, only minor surface-prep is required – the surface needs to be clean and dry. It is recommended to lightly sand or “scuff” the floor prior to installation to ensure a proper bond. This removes any laitance and embedded dirt. Everlast Epoxy Flooring does not require a primer or bond coat as it is a one-step application. After the flooring is installed, a clear-coat of Everlast Stay-Clean Sealant is painted on to give it a shine and make it easy-to-clean.
No loud grinders or tile-cutting saws, no dust clouds from mixing thinset, and no dangerous odors many glues give off when installing vinyl tile or sheet rubber floors.
The Ideal Way to Tackle Any
Flooring Problem For Good
Having the ability to replace a floor within a day or two of work is great. Being able to complete five triage room floors in just a handful of days, without needing to close down the medical wing, gives a facility manager options for dealing with troublesome floors without worrying about the budget or potentially risking the lives of patients when they are at their most vulnerable. In fact, the installation crew noted that patients were being treated in the triage room next to them. They received no complaints about noise or smell during the entire installation process.
Whether it’s an emergency triage room, a commercial kitchen and cafeteria, a surgery room, or hallways…a strong flooring material will allow your medical facility to remain sanitary at all times, even in high-traffic areas, while also removing the headaches of having to repair or replace “hospital grade” flooring material every few years.
If you’re interested in learning more about Everlast Epoxy floors and how they allow facility managers to finally put their flooring problems to rest, feel free to give our flooring experts a call. They’ll happily answer any of your questions and help find the right solution to your flooring problem.
Conway Medical Center is only one of three hospitals in South Carolina, and one of 186 nationwide, to earn the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) ENERGY STAR certification for exceptional energy efficiency.
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