Illinois Hospital Creates a Safe Lifting Team, Reduces Injuries by 30 Percent

OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria, Ill., has substantially reduced lift injuries while boosting staff satisfaction with the creation of a new lift team department that provides patient transfer and mobility assistance. Details of the program are available in a white paper titled “Illinois Hospital Reduces Lift Injuries, Staff Satisfaction Soars with Lift Team Department and Liko Lifts."

The case study describes how the new safe lifting department originally was created to curtail increasing lift injuries and growing worker’s compensation costs. It then evolved into a dedicated patient lift team department that provides 24/7 lifting assistance to the staff and patients in all areas.

Implementing the program at Saint Francis, a 616-bed, Level I, trauma facility, has reduced staff injuries associated with patient handling activities by 30 percent, slashed more than 1,200 restricted work days and generated an estimated $400,000 in savings that has been re-invested back into St. Francis’s safe patient handling program and lift team department.

The case study details the design, development and implementation of the comprehensive program, including the tracking of injuries, rating and selection of lifting equipment, extensive training of staff to become “Lift Team Technicians,” education of patients and caregivers and measurement of patient and staff satisfaction.

You can download “Illinois Hospital Reduces Lift Injuries, Staff Satisfaction Soars with Lift Team Department and Liko Lifts” at http://www.safeliftingportal.com/st_francis or call toll-free (888) 545-6671. The Safe Lifting Portal (http://www.safeliftingportal.com) is sponsored by Liko North America, a leading suppliers of patient lift and transfer solutions.