Sutter invests million in lifts to improve patient safety
The not-for-profit healthcare system Sutter Health recently announced an $11.5 million commitment to install overhead patient lifts at 19 intensive care units and acute rehabilitation centers across its Northern California network. Three years ago, the Sacramento-based network invested an initial $11.5 million to install overhead lifts at 21 affiliate sites.
Overhead patient lifts make repositioning and moving patients easier, safer, and less dangerous for caregivers. Initial outcomes from Sutter-affiliated hospitals with overhead lifts show that employee injuries from lifting and repositioning patients have dropped by more than 50% since 2011. The not-for-profit network anticipates even better outcomes as it installs additional lifts and employees become more familiar with using them, said Dan Perrot, Sutter Health’s director of employee health and safety, in a sttatement about the investment.
The lifts enhance patient safety and clinical quality by allowing employees to turn and move patients in a manner that reduces risks of patients developing painful skin ulcers or experiencing falls, Perrot said. Also, the lifts allow physical therapy staff to provide early mobilization therapy to patients in intensive care units.
Perrot said, "The lifts supplement existing safety programs and equipment already in place across our network, such as mobile floor lifts, sit/stand devices, and patient mobilization programs."
The announcement brings the healthcare network’s commitment to install overhead patient lifts across its network to $23 million.
