A new pneumatic tube system at Sentara Leigh Hospital in Norfolk is reshaping how medical specimens and clinical documents travel throughout the facility, cutting transport times from 15 minutes to about a minute.
The system allows nurses and clinicians to load blood samples, lab specimens and other biohazardous materials into clear plastic tubes that are then whisked through a network of pipes to their destination using compressed air. No more waiting for elevators or walking through halls with sensitive materials.
“We have half a million square feet in this building. So, if you think about that, how long it might take someone to transport a specimen all the way from the 5th floor of a tower down here to the lab could take 15 minutes round trip or more,” said Bailey Myers, senior director of operations at Sentara Leigh Hospital…