Methodist Hospital, Philadelphia, PA
nora Rubber Flooring Brings Soothing Design and Simplified Maintenance to Methodist Hospital
Located on Broad Street in South Philadelphia, Methodist Hospital has a long history of providing quality care for its patients. For over one hundred years, this facility, a division of Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, has provided community-based patient care, ranging from leading-edge diagnostic imaging services to specialized care for women at its new Women’s Diagnostic Center.
Recently, Methodist Hospital decided to expand its patient offerings with an expanded operating suite, including four additional operating rooms, a new six-bed pre-operation area, a 16-bed Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU)/recovery area and staff support areas. nora has worked with Methodist Hospital on projects like these for a number of years, supplying rubber flooring products as the hospital has performed numerous renovations.
For this project, Methodist Hospital consulted with designer and architect Edmund Pescatore of Pescatore & Associates LLC located in Havertown, PA. Pescatore, who is responsible for the design of the operating suite expansion, selected noraplan fossil for the 6,500 square foot installation in the prep and recovery areas, and noraplan mega in the 4,500 square foot operating room addition.
Pescatore’s choice was no surprise, however. He has been using nora products in operating rooms for several years, and he wanted the same ease of maintenance and aesthetically pleasing design choices. Pescatore used two-foot by two-foot squares of noraplan fossil to create interesting, colorful, and inexpensive geometric designs with soothing blue tones in the patient bays. noraplan fossil provided a background color consisting of three harmoniously matched shades of blue with distinctive color granules. The color scheme is also complimented by a smooth, non-glare finish, which maintains its appeal with excellent wear resistance afforded by nora cleanguard, a dirt repellent.
“We chose noraplan fossil for the operating suite floors because it served our design needs as well as our performance needs,” said Pescatore. “With the product, environmental services can simply wash the floor and be done. No stripping or refinishing is required, which significantly reduces the time demands placed on environmental services.”
Pescatore compared the use of rubber flooring with the use of vinyl composite tile, which was also an option in the PACU area. Pescatore noted that with vinyl tile, environmental services would have had to apply a finish to the tile twice per month, a service that typically cannot be performed during the day because the area is in use.
“Stripping and refinishing vinyl tile typically requires a long weekend and personnel overtime,” noted Pescatore. “It is very time consuming. nora flooring solves this problem. Cleaning is simple and can be done between cases throughout the day. It’s an ideal choice for busy medical facilities like Methodist Hospital.”
Michael Curry, vice president of physicians operations and support services, explained that the nora Rubber Flooring is simply spot cleaned and mopped with a disinfectant between each case. Then, the flooring receives a final, complete cleaning at the end of the day. Basic care of noraplan fossil involves dust mopping to remove surface dirt, followed by an application of a pH neutral cleaner. The surface is then scrubbed with a single disc machine and any residue is removed with a wet vacuum. Finally, the area is rinsed with clean water and a disinfectant is applied.
Curry said the staff loves the new floor not only because it looks great, but also because it is easy on the feet and reduces noise as patients and equipment are moved about.
The seamless design is also an advantage in this hospital setting as it reduces the opportunity for infectious substances to remain in the area after cleaning. In addition, nora flooring is resistant to skin, surface and hand disinfectants, including betadine, blood, urine, acids (depending on concentration level) and alkalis.
Another benefit of the nora Rubber Flooring is that it does not contain volatile plasticizers - it is dimensionally stable and will not shrink. In addition, nora flooring can be installed without seam welding in most cases, which is beneficial because seams can expand and contract leaving them vulnerable to cracks that can catch dirt and other substances and detract from the overall appearance.
Curry noted, “Using nora Rubber Flooring instead of vinyl eliminates the strong odor of the stripping and cleaning products required to maintain a vinyl floor— a benefit much appreciated by both our staff and our patients.” Curry also commented on the design noting, “The lighter field in the blue background really adds a nice accent and provides a calming effect to the operating room suite.”
Download Project Profile PDF
Contact Information
nora systems, Inc.
9 Northeastern Blvd.
Salem, NH 03079
Toll-Free: 800-332-NORA
Tel: (603) 894-1021
Fax: (603) 894-6615
E-mail: info-us@nora.com
