In the summer of 2021, after some extensive research with the qualified curtain program at Chatham-Kent Health Alliance, Belroc was approached by a key environmental services team member from Bluewater Health looking to launch a whole new curtain program.
Bluewater Health, with locations in Sarnia and Petrolia, cares for the approximately 131,000 residents of Sarnia-Lambton county. With close to 2,500 staff, they provide an array of specialized acute care, complex continuing care, and allied health & ambulatory care services under Lake Huron on the boarder with the United States.
With recommendations from their colleagues, and a little road trip to Chatham to inspect their Instaswap program, Bluewater Health was excited to see if the program could work for them. With access to special COVID-19 funding resources, the timing was perfect, understanding this could be an integral part of their efforts towards better infection control throughout the hospital network.
It was critical that the system for the emergency department would eliminate ladders and have quick turnovers for the high patient demand. InstaSwap’s modular snap panels would allow staff to safely stay planted on the ground to remove curtains for each new patient. And the standard size panels simply meant there would be no fuss to find the right panel to go back up. The whole process needed to take minutes to complete.
If this was a success, they would roll out the curtain program across the entire hospital network.
Stick to the process
In the early stages, Belroc took the time to find out exactly what Bluewater Health’s needs were. We set up an initial on-line meeting to meet environmental services (EVS) staff and were delighted to hear that Chatham-Kent had referred us. As a follow up, Belroc provided an InstaSwap sample kit by courier to demonstrate the full suite of options available.
Due to travel restrictions during the pandemic’s shutdown, Belroc was unable to attend onsite, we had to come up with a new plan to take the next steps. Electronic measure-up forms were sent and used to complete a full site assessment by hospital staff, noting specifically the locations of X-Y lifts to include the InstaGap feature.
What is InstaGap?
To accommodate an X-Y patient lift mounted on the ceiling there needs to be a break in your curtain track through which the lift mechanism can pass. This creates a gap that can lead to patient privacy being compromised. To avoid this, Belroc has developed the custom-made 18 inch InstaGap panel. It’s made with matching fabric and is compatible with the snap fasteners on InstaSwap curtains.
InstaSwap can be fitted to the curtain track on either side of the lift gantry, leaving one or two snap fasteners on each side not attached to the upper mesh. An InstaGap panel can then be snapped on to bridge the gap between the two curtains, without the need for the top mesh. The result is less damage to curtains, and more privacy for both staff and patients during these vulnerable moments.
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it
Belroc is proud of our 3DX methodology, a seamless process for each project, no matter the scale. We implement Define, Direct and Deliver with every customer. Therefore, once documentation was returned, another on-line meeting occurred to verify:
- measurements recorded and in what units,
- number of bed locations,
- carrier and X-Y lift counts, and
- colour of the fabric.
Bluemoon was it, a no-brainer, as the name says it all!
Bluewater Health staff accomplished the curtain installation entirely on their own, with guidance from our installation instructions and specific details provided by Belroc. Once restrictions were lifted, Belroc traveled to the site and completed a full installation inspection, which lead right into the next phase! Check out Bluewater Health‘s progress on our Projects page.
To view more of our patient privacy projects, click here or to make an enquiry, contact us.
