Replace OR Nurse Call System

Department of Veterans Affairs

VISN 15, John J. Cochran Veterans Hospital

St. Louis, MO

Romanyk Consulting Corp. (RCC) provided architectural and engineering services to upgrade the nurse call and paging systems within OR 4B located within the main hospital (Building 1) of the John J. Cochran Veterans Hospital. The project replaced and integrated the Code Blue system within eight operating rooms (ORs), associated hallways, and staff terminal stations. It also connected four new staff terminal stations to the nurse call and dome light system. RCC designed the routing for the CAT 5 cable from each new Staff Terminal

station to the existing nurse call equipment rack. RCC’s cost estimator developed construction cost estimates split up per rooms along with an overall cost estimate.

The scope of work for the Nurse Call replacement included new staff station, code blue, nurse call master station, and staff communication system integration. It removed the old nurse call devices, cabling, and headend equipment.

The new nurse call system includes the following capabilities:

• CODE blue system tied in with Police Dispatch staff console for notification

• New hands-free staff stations

• Voice over IP audio communication

• Touch screen staff console with 2-way communication

• Wireless phone, pager, overhead paging integration

Site Investigation & Design

RCC investigated the existing nurse call system, device type, and locations in the OR department. The design team surveyed each room and the utility systems serving the room. The nurse call code blue and staff stations in the OR rooms were replaced to meet the current technology and VA requirements. The upgraded nurse call system is ready for the future Vocera communication system. Paging system speakers and zoning were also upgraded to work with the updated nurse call system. Construction phasing plans and temporary nurse

call system/devices were designed for phased construction to minimize impact of the OR department operations.

Locations of Replaced Nurse Call System

OR 4B is an existing OR suite located on the 4th floor of Building 1.

The existing nurse call system was upgraded in the following rooms:

• Room B449

• Room B447

• Room B445

• Room B443

• Room 441

• Room H411

Construction Period Services

RCC attended the pre-bid conference and worked with the VA to respond to contractor RFIs. During construction, RCC logged, reviewed, answered, and tracked RFIs, submittals, shop drawings, ASIs, and other related contractor questions. RCC team members attended construction meetings. Lastly, RCC observed System Testing & Verification to confirm the functionality and design intent were met at the conclusion of the construction phase.