Fraser Health’s Ceiling Lift Program Team received an Award of Merit for Top Innovation at the 2017 BC Health Care Awards.
Project Leaders: Alan Kelly and Les Cleveland
Project Team: Tim Kelly, Mitch Weimer, Michael Mankwald, Mark Spanjers, Lionel Haricombe, Dan Huchuk
Imagine you are a nurse who must lift a patient to provide care. In an effort to help, he puts his arms around your neck and his body weight results in an injury, causing you chronic pain and disability for the rest of your life. To avoid this type of scenario, ceiling lifts were introduced in B.C. health facilities 15 years ago as a safer alternative to manually lifting.
Naturally, these lifts need to be repaired over time. In 2015, Fraser Health was faced with a significant increase in the cost of a third-party maintenance package. Fraser Health’s Ceiling Lift Program Team responded by organizing their own shop that now provides ceiling lift maintenance to health authorities across the province. To date, they have repaired 571 lifts, realizing significant savings in parts and labour.
For their dedication to maintaining patient and staff safety in an efficient and fiscally responsible manner, Fraser Health’s Ceiling Lift Program Team received an Award of Merit at the 2017 BC Health Care Awards.
About BC Health Care Awards
Presented by the Health Employers Association of BC (HEABC) on Monday, June 26, the awards recognize the efforts of health care employees who provide quality care and acknowledge excellence and innovation in publicly funded health care. Learn more about this year's award recipients.