Challenge

Creating an environment to focus on the whole patient: mind, body and spirit

Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel is committed to providing high-quality patient care in a state-of-the-art healthcare environment. “Our entire facility was intentionally designed to promote patient healing, comfort, and privacy,” said Tracy Clouser, Director of Marketing for Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel. “Everything from our building to policies to our hand-selected staff was created with the patient in mind.”

The 201,909 square foot hospital is spread across three stories. Expansive patient rooms feature large floor to ceiling windows, nine-foot ceilings, and an interactive multimedia system that allows patients to communicate with family members and learn more about their ailments. “Every patient room has a view of our beautiful natural surroundings to increase patient comfort and relaxation during their recuperation,” added Clouser.

The patient room design and features presented several acoustic challenges for hospital administrators. The expansive windows reverberate sound in the patient rooms, leading to possible privacy and acoustic comfort issues.

Connecting each area of the hospital are uniquely designed hallways and spaces. The hallways are built with a slight curvature and include side-mounted lighting. These slightly curved hallways grant nurses the ability to see down the length of the hallway from their stations. Additionally, the hospital features a large lobby with a three-story atrium featuring an all-glass front to allow in lots of natural light. These features improve patient comfort and staff productivity but could lead to sounds being carried across great distances.

Solution

“To ensure patient privacy and comfort in all 83 patient rooms, 18 emergency rooms, hallways, the main lobby, nurses’ stations, and operating rooms, we deployed sound masking,” said John Crouch, Director of Facilities. With the unique design of the space and the hospital’s commitment to patient privacy and comfort, the best choice for Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel was a sound masking system from Cambridge Sound Management. Four Qt 600 systems were installed along with a network of 700 Qt emitters.
The system was installed by SoundStage (www.soundstageinc.com), a CSM partner based in Winter Park, Florida. Sound Stage presented the Qt Quiet Technology sound masking system to the hospital in addition to other AV solutions that the hospital was deploying.

Result

Sound masking helps Florida Hospital ensure the whole patient is treated

With the Qt system deployed in over 70% of the facility, Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel not only provides highly competent specialists to heal a patient’s body, but it also provides an environment that promotes healing and comfort for patients and visitors. “We know the environment is an important aspect of the healing process,” commented Clouser. “The Qt sound masking system is a perfect example of how every detail of the hospital was carefully considered to promote patient healing and comfort.” With no restrictions on visiting hours, the Qt system blocks out hallway noise so patients and visitors can get a peaceful night’s rest. In addition to having all-private rooms, the system helps patients converse privately with family members, physicians, and clinical staff.

This attention to detail is working. The hospital ranks in the 94th percentile for quietness among hospitals across the U.S. that use the Press Ganey survey for patient satisfaction.
“The system works exactly as designed,” said Crouch. “And the system is extremely easy to use and maintain.” With the Qt Quiet Technology system, the hospital experiences no acoustic hot or cold spots, ensuring uniform sound masking coverage. It is also straightforward to maintain a consistent background sound level throughout the entire facility making the sound masking unnoticeable to the hospital’s patients and staff.

About Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel

Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel opened on October 1, 2012. The hospital workforce includes 400 of the area’s best nurses and clinical staff, along with 200 community physicians, committed to delivering a superior level of care. The hospital’s philosophy is based around treating the whole person, mind, body, and spirit. With state-of-the-art clinical technologies and a unique, faithful approach to care, the hospital is singularly focused on patient care and experience.

The hospital’s inspired campus, nestled among reflective wetlands, moss draped oaks and cypress, provides a welcome retreat from the typical hospital experience. To learn more about the Florida Hospital Wesley Chapel, please visit their website.

About Biamp
Biamp® is a leading provider of innovative, networked media systems that power the world’s most sophisticated audiovisual installations. The company is recognized worldwide for delivering high-quality products and backing each one with a commitment to exceptional customer service.

Recipient of the Frost & Sullivan 2018 Global Installed Audio Conferencing Enabling Technology Leadership Award, Biamp is dedicated to creating products that drive the evolution of communication through sight and sound. The award-winning Biamp product suite includes: Tesira® media system for digital audio and video networking, Devio® collaboration tool for modern workplaces, Audia® digital audio platform, Nexia® digital signal processors, Vocia® networked public address and voice evacuation system, Cambridge® sound masking solutions, and loudspeakers for installed sound applications from Community Loudspeakers® and Apart Audio®. Each has its own specific feature set that can be customized and integrated in a wide range of applications, including corporate boardrooms, conference centers, huddle rooms, open floor environments, performing arts venues, courtrooms, hospitals, transportation hubs, campuses, retail, hospitality, military and government, and multi-building facilities.

Founded in 1976, Biamp is headquartered in Beaverton, Oregon, USA, with additional offices around the globe. For more information on Biamp, please visit www.biamp.com.