Healthcare centre lighting solution gives power to the patients

When patients enter a long-term healthcare facility, they often feel like they’re relinquishing control over their own lives. With this in mind, Franklin Healthcare (FHC) in New Jersey set out to renovate its facility so it would have a residential feel, providing as much autonomy for residents as possible in a clinical setting.

A significant focus of the renovation program was to install a lighting control system that would improve the healthcare environment, reduce energy costs and, importantly, give patients easy and individual control over their immediate surroundings.

The lighting solution was designed with efficiency and comfort in mind.

The multibuilding FHC facility is spread out over several campuses and provides long-term care to patients. As well as standard patient rooms, FHC has an acute care wing that caters to critically ill patients who require specialised treatment programs and therapeutic interventions such as renal dialysis.

Philips worked with FHC, designing a sophisticated and responsive lighting management system using a Philips Dynalite control solution that incorporates DALI and BMS. FHC wanted technology installed that would improve the patient experience while helping staff to work more efficiently.

The lighting control solution needed to provide a high-quality visual environment that was comfortable and safe for patients and staff. While the focus was on promoting patient wellbeing and comfort, the solution also needed to lower energy costs and minimise maintenance costs.

The solution makes a comfortable and safe environment for staff and patients.

FHC also wanted a simple interface to the existing building management system developed that would automatically turn off HVAC and lighting to vacant rooms.

To ensure the lighting solution was appropriate for the application, the Philips Controls team designed it around the people who would use it: the patients. They put themselves in the patients’ shoes, asking whether coloured LEDs would affect patients’ night vision or sleep cycles and whether a pushbutton control was simple and intuitive to operate.

The result was ‘The Cockpit’ - a swing-arm touchpad at the bedside that allows patients personal control of lighting and air conditioning, as well as control over the headlight, ambient lighting and footlights. Workers can also adjust the lighting via a keypad by the door.

Initially installed in a 92-bed facility, the lighting solution will progressively be rolled out across the centre’s facilities as they are refurbished. One challenge that Philips and FHC faced was working around the patients and staff. To overcome this, the project was broken into 10 phases, with small groups of patients and staff being relocated as the work was carried out, ensuring minimal disruption.

In total, Philips will be involved in the renovation of all seven FHC facilities. In anticipation of this, the remote access capability of the Philips Dynalite management software has been installed. This will enable the facilities manager to monitor and control all the buildings from one location.

FHC hopes to implement the lighting solution in its other facilities to provide the same flexibility and control to all the patients in its care.