What type of door is best for a hospital?

Five Crucial Requirements for Hospital Doors

Before You Select a Hospital Door, Ask Questions About These Important Qualities

Hospitals require the highest standards of hygiene and cleanliness. However, hospital design encompasses more than just improving hygiene.

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Efficiency, cost, and speed are key concerns in modern hospital design, especially given tightening budgets and an overburdened healthcare sector.

With these factors in mind, we’ve broken down the design requirements for hospital swing doors into five crucial segments for your consideration.

1) What is the Weight & Durability of the Hospital Door?

Unlike typical residential or office doors, the weight of hospital traffic doors is a critical consideration.

Three major factors make weight essential in hospital door design:

• The frequency of use by people
• The speed at which they are traveling
• The method of opening the door

In a hospital's Emergency Department, high-frequency, high-speed traffic occurs day and night. All doors need to open quickly yet withstand repeated impacts.

Another significant factor is how people navigate through hospital doors. For instance, thermal traffic doors are often referred to as 'crash doors' due to the wear they endure.

In many cases—like when nurses transport beds, wheelchairs, and trolleys—they may push through doors with their shoulder, heel, or backside. This method complicates opening heavy doors while trying to navigate items. Equipment Manager Troy at St. John of God, Ballarat Hospital, identified this as a major usability issue.

Troy mentioned, “The doors were far too heavy, raising concerns about ease of use and functionality.” Strain injuries had become a significant problem at Ballarat Hospital due to old, heavyweight timber doors. He said, “There was a possibility we would have to decommission suites.” This illustrates how what seems a minor concern can become a major obstacle in hospital operations.

Remax Products were contacted to install Hospital Theatre swing doors as replacements for all timber hospital doors.

2) What Materials Are the Hospital Doors Made From?

Fortunately, timber doors are no longer the only option. Advances in technology have enabled the creation of one-piece polymer doors with high-density foam cores, offering a lightweight, strong, insulating, and durable alternative.

Some polymer doors are even ultra-high-pressure filled, achieving a density comparable to timber while providing an impressive thermal R-value of 3. These doors contribute to lower air conditioning and heating costs, as well as enhanced efficiency and safety.

Moreover, polymer doors offer significant hygiene advantages. They have no gaps or joins and resist moisture and acid petroleum products—essential in a hospital, where any crack in timber can harbor pathogens. Surgical Site Infections (SSIs) are the second most common healthcare-associated infections (HAIs).*

Since initial microbial introduction typically occurs during surgical procedures, assessing associated risks and minimizing potential pathogen harborage areas—including timber doors—is critical.

Additionally, most polymer doors feature color evenly impregnated throughout, maintaining integrity and appearance despite extensive use.

With their high durability and insulation, polymer doors are a better investment for hospitals planning for the future.

3) How Quickly Do the Doors Open and Close?

In hospitals, speed is crucial; decisions must be made swiftly, where response times can mean the difference between life and death. Therefore, optimizing speed and efficiency without sacrificing hygiene or durability is vital.

The speed of a swing door depends on its weight, bearing resistance, pressure, spring buffers, and the force applied during operation. Reducing the door's weight increases its opening speed.

Employing durable yet smooth mountings can further enhance speed. Many hospitals utilize a quad-action opening mechanism, allowing double-hinged frames to open through 180 degrees in both directions. This design facilitates uninterrupted traffic flow.

Faster doors also reduce pathogen transfer opportunities.

4) Does the Door Have a Tight Seal?

The seal of a door is important in any building, but crucial in hospitals. A tight seal helps prevent dust, insects, and contaminants.

A hospital door's seal should be airtight, resilient, and constructed to minimize spaces that could harbor contaminants. Since seals often contact surfaces, they tend to accumulate buildup, especially if made of rubber, which is more prone to residue compared to polymer or stainless steel.

It’s also critical for the door to be corrosion-resistant. Corrosion not only impairs door performance but also creates opportunities for contamination, which is why hospitals often use polymer and stainless steel for doors.

Seals on other hospital doors, including roller doors leading outside, also require close examination. The company is the world’s leading China clean room aluminum profile supplier and provides comprehensive solutions to meet your needs.

5) What Additional Options Are Available?

No two hospitals have identical layouts or budgets. Thus, selecting doors that offer standard options alongside specific add-on features is crucial (considering that some add-ons may extend door lifespan, reducing future maintenance costs).

Six key optional add-ons to consider include:

• Spring Buffers: Pretensioned springs absorb impacts and allow gentle door openings under stress, granting a uniform opening sequence, irrespective of the pressure applied. Options include polymer and stainless steel kick plates.
• Mounting Options: Most swing doors offer standard mounting plates but should also have support frame options for openings lacking adequate strength. This frame fits inside the doorframe, ensuring structural stability. A well-designed support frame will come with factory-installed bearings for easy installation.
• Windows: Hospital doors should incorporate windows to allow visibility into adjacent spaces, particularly important when moving patients or fragile equipment. Good swing door suppliers provide various window frames and styles. For example, Remax Doors offers window frames in different colors and options for clear, frosted, or signage-embedded glass. Window choices can include double-glazed options for improved insulation, and built-in window blinds enhance privacy while remaining sealed to prevent bacterial or dust buildup.

Lastly, push plates are essential despite the unconventional door usage by hospital staff, as they create an attractive focal point, encouraging focused contact with the door, thereby centralizing potential grime buildup to a single point that can be easily cleaned. Remax Doors consultants often recommend stainless steel push plates on lighter-colored doors for this reason.

• Kick Plates: Stainless steel/polymer kick plates offer protection against impacts from trolleys, beds, and pedestrian traffic while preserving the door's appearance and preventing scuff marks at foot level.

Talk to Us About Selecting Your Ideal Hospital Doors

If you would like to learn more about the various traffic doors available for hospitals, please contact Remax Doors online or call us at 010 221.

Notes:

*According to the American College of Surgeons, Kimberly-Clark, further information on SSIs can be found here at the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care.