Hospital’s new tower included expansion of pneumatic tube system

Pevco, a U.S. manufacturer of pneumatic tube systems for hospitals, is pleased to announce that one of its customers has been awarded the 2014 Vista Award for Best New Hospital Construction by the American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE).

The customer, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, was recognized for its Alkek Tower expansion. The project was under budget and added 10 stories to the existing Alkek Hospital, built in 1998.

According to ASHE, “the Vista Award for Best New Construction is presented to an organization that has constructed a new facility essentially from the ground up. The new facility may be connected to an existing facility, but the building must have its own identity and be a new space.”

The new tower project included the addition of 11 stations to an existing Pevco pneumatic tube system. These new stations all incorporated Pevco Smart Path™, the company’s traffic management technology that improves performance by increasing delivery speed and blower efficiency.

The annual Vista Award recognizes the importance of teamwork in creating an optimal healthcare physical environment. The winning team from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center showed a dedication that helped the project get back on track, despite challenges. Project challenges included weight restrictions, disruptions on active patient floors and risks of damage from Hurricane Ike. Norman Morgan, principal-in-charge at HKS, said the project was very collaborative in nature and required a lot of creative solutions.

“We are proud that our tube system was included in the award winning Alkek Tower,” said Becky Cateora, account executive at Pevco. “With reports that patient satisfaction scores have increased since the expansion, we are happy that our system was selected to safely deliver materials to patients.”

The Vista Awards will be presented at the International Summit & Exhibition on Health Facility Planning, Design & Construction in Orlando next week.  Pevco will be showcasing its tube system solutions for healthcare facilities at booth #1009.

About Pevco
Pevco designs, manufactures, installs and supports hospital pneumatic tube systems that enable healthcare professionals to quickly, safely and reliably transport patient-critical materials between labs, pharmacies, blood banks, ORs, EDs and nursing stations. Used by more than 600 leading hospitals, Pevco’s flexible, intelligent products consistently reduce operating costs and are compatible with all competing pneumatic tube systems. Pevco was founded in 1978 and is headquartered in Baltimore, with support staff throughout North America.