Upgrades include new equipment, beds, renovations

Alameda Hospital has recently acquired new beds,  part of an overall plan by the hospital’s parent, Alameda Health System (AHS), to upgrade the facility. With price tags ranging from $10,000 to $28,000 per bed, the nearly 40 replacement beds cost about $500,000. 

“The new beds improve the patient experience and provide benefits to our employees as well,” said Bonnie Panlasigui, the hospital’s chief administrative officer. “They are part of what we promised as the value of affiliation with AHS and demonstrate our ongoing commitment to our community.” 

The new beds are highly specialized with functions that include fall-prevention features and mechanical mattress frames that help staff rotate patients for wound prevention. The beds in the intensive-care unit will play therapeutic music and include various care phrases in 20 languages for more robust communication with patients. 

Alameda Hospital also expects to receive new gurneys for the emergency department and operating suites in the near future, along with 35 new beds for long-term-care  patients at South Shore Rehabilitation & Wellness Center. 
The hospital plans to spend nearly $1 million on renovations to upgrade patient rooms and main corridors with work expected to begin early next year. 

The hospital will donate the old beds to hospitals in the Philippines thanks to a new partnership between AHS and MedShare, a recycling and distribution center for medical supplies based in San Leandro. 
MedShare, which relies solely on the generosity of individuals, foundations, corporations and government grants to carry out its mission, waived its sponsorship fee to AHS.

“This is a first,” stated Andy Pines, executive director of MedShare’s Western Region, “and it’s due solely to the critical status of AHS hospitals as safety-net providers in the East Bay.”