High-speed delivery system to improve patient care

DALLAS – The new Parkland hospital currently under construction will utilize a comprehensive series of pneumatic tubes, much like bank tellers use with drive-through customers. Pneumatic tubes will enable nurses to send and receive blood samples and patient medications quicker, thereby reducing errors and improving patient safety. The technology also will be used to efficiently transport trash and linen, which supports Parkland’s infection prevention initiatives.

“Pneumatic tubes will remove clutter from the hospital in areas normally occupied by manual resources for waste removal including people and trash carts, which immediately improves facility aesthetics and patient safety,” said Lou Saksen, Senior Vice President of New Parkland Construction. 

For linen and trash transportation Parkland is using TransVac, a Denver-based provider of automated trash, recycling and soiled linen collection and transport systems. TransVac’s team of engineers and designers is working with Parkland’s architects and consultants to implement the system into the building’s design and infrastructure. 

There will be a network of vertical and horizontal sealed tubes throughout the hospital. The system will pull material from each loading station through use of computer monitored and controlled air-vacuum technology. Traveling at speeds of up to 60 miles per hour, material will be transported to a centralized, final collection point, offering considerable health, operational and financial advantages.

Swisslog, a Switzerland-based company specializing in automated transportation systems in hospitals, will implement pneumatic tubes for clinical purposes. It will transport lab specimens, IVs, pharmaceuticals, documents, supplies and other materials safely and reliably throughout the hospital. It is being designed to process 8,800 transactions a day.

Parkland’s pneumatic tubing system will contain Swisslog’s most advanced features, including cushioned receiving bins to minimize impact and sound, a touch screen control panel located on each tube station, a card swipe feature for additional security, radio frequency identification technology for better tracking of inventory, and alert messaging to increase productivity and improve maintenance of the pneumatic tubing system. 

The new Parkland hospital is scheduled to be completed in summer of 2014 and open in 2015. With a campus covering 2.5 million square feet, it is the largest new hospital construction project in the country.