Your March Impact: "Cutting-edge" Beds Improve Patient Care, Safety
Published Monday, March 17, 2025
(L-R) Laura Jurimae, RN, Patient Care Manager, and Richa, RN, both from 3A Inpatient Surgery, with one of the hospital's new SMART inpatient beds designed to improve safety and comfort.
You may not think that a hospital bed would have “cutting-edge technology” that improves patient care. Besides things like recline and maybe move up and down, what could it possibly do?
Turns out, quite a lot.
Donors, Thunder Bay 50/50 ticket supporters, and event participants helped the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation purchase 15 new patient beds for the Hospital, designed to improve patient safety and care.
John Ross, Director of Surgical and Ambulatory Services at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, said that one of the most important features of the new beds is how they help reduce the risk of bedsores. These pressure sores are a constant problem in hospitals and can lead to serious infections. Bedsores can occur even with close monitoring, so any risk reduction is crucial to patient care.
“The mattresses on these beds significantly reduce bedsores,” Ross said.
It works similarly to a sleep number bed, which allows you reduce or increase the firmness of the mattress. The difference is, the patient bed adjusts the “sleep number” constantly and automatically.
“The mattress is always changing the patient's position, increasing blood flow and taking pressure off those high-risk areas.”
People with wounds or vascular issues are at a particularly high risk for bedsores. Ross said that there is a system to coordinate these patients so that they have first access to the newer bed.
“The best thing we can do is get people up and moving. It helps the circulation and takes the pressure off,” Ross said. “But for those patients who can't get up, these beds provide the next-best option.”
Turning patients is also important – and the new beds help there, too. One of the leading causes of staff injuries is moving patients. The bed can assist by lifting from side to side as needed, taking much of the weight for improved safety for patient and staff.
Ross added that eventually, the Hospital would like to upgrade all its beds to this remarkable new unit and future models. However, replacing those beds takes money and time.
“Last year, the Hospital added 30 of these new beds, including 15 from the Thunder Bay 50/50 ticket purchases,” Ross said. The Hospital has 425 patient beds which includes 274 beds in the medical and surgical units. Of those, about 50 are the new models with the specialized mattress. “They are very expensive, so replacing all our beds will take time.”
The new beds also have other advanced features such as under-bed lighting if the patient needs to get up at night, a warning system that alerts the nurses' station when a patient gets up, and a respiration monitor that assists nurses during rounds.
“We appreciate the support of the Foundation,” Ross said. “It may not seem glamorous, but the patient bed one of the most important pieces of patient care equipment. These beds actually increase the level of care we can provide.”
This is just one example of how your Thunder Bay 50/50 ticket purchases, your donations to the Health Sciences Foundation, and attending Foundation events helps improve patient care at the Hospital every day. What will you help bring next? Read more news at healthsciencesfoundation.ca/latest-news to find out!
Article by Graham Strong