Smart beds to be used at Mackenzie Health

RICHMOND HILL, Ont. – Mackenzie Health has signed an agreement with leading medical technology provider Hill-Rom to bring “smart” beds to its hospitals – an existing facility in Richmond Hill and a new hospital, currently under construction in nearby Vaughan and slated for opening in late 2020.

Hill-Rom’s Centrella is a digitally enhanced patient bed with “smart” technology that helps improve patient safety. This technology is coming to Mackenzie Vaughan Hospital in late 2020. Plans to implement features at Mackenzie Richmond Hill Hospital will occur after 2020.

If a patient is at-risk for falls, “smart” beds will automatically set the bed-exit alarm. Beds are equipped with sensors which can help prevent falls by sending an alert if the bed is in an unsafe position.

In addition, the beds will integrate with healthcare professionals’ real-time locating system badges (RTLS), which can be programmed to automatically silence alarms when they enter a patient’s room.

In total, “smart” beds monitor up to 35 data points – such as bed position, patient weight, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) mode – and electronically update a patient’s medical record, including how many times they left their bed or how often they have been turned.

For healthcare professionals, this technology will support them in creating a safe, high quality patient experience focused on each patient’s unique needs.

Other features that place these beds in a class of their own, are a digitally enhanced remote to set personalized comfort settings – like adjusting the firmness of the bed, controlling entertainment – and a nurse call button that provides audio confirmation of calls.

The “smart” bed will also deliver verbal prompts that communicate to patients and caregivers, with messages like “the care team has been called” and “brake not set” to support patient safety from all viewpoints.