The Ethianum in Heidelberg is one of the first clinics in Germany to align itself consistently according to sustainability criteria, thus making it a hospital in keeping with the spirit of Siemens' Green+ Hospital Programme. Working in partnership with the Ethianum, Siemens has developed and implemented comprehensive solutions: These include energy management, patient care, and the communications infrastructure. In this way Siemens supports its customer in integrating factors like environmental protection, quality of treatment, and efficiency into the day-to-day processes of its organisation. The Ethianum opened its doors in July 2010.
The Ethianum is a Heidelberg-based clinic specializing in plastic surgery, aesthetic surgery and preventive medicine. It is one of the most advanced clinics in Europe. Green+ Hospitals is a programme launched by Siemens to align its healthcare portfolio toward sustainability. Siemens thus provides its customers with environmentally friendly solutions in harmony with economic efficiency and high quality for patients.
"A major concern for us, particularly also with regard to ecological aspects, was to act responsibly and develop a clinic that sets standards in healthcare in terms of sustainability," explained Dr. Peter Görlich, Director of the Ethianum. "Thanks to the solutions from Siemens we don't just reduce our energy requirements to a minimum. More importantly, they support our objective of establishing short examination times and structured treatment paths as the standard in healthcare," added Görlich.
"Traditionally a pioneer of new developments, Siemens faced up to its social responsibility for mankind and the environment years ago. Today, Siemens is a market leader in green technology. With its Green+ Hospitals portfolio, our company sets standards in terms of sustainability. Green+ Hospitals is the key to more "green", quality and efficiency, from which the environment, hospital operators and patients will benefit in equal measure," said Wolfgang Bayer, Healthcare Sector CEO, Siemens Germany.
Energy management
As a solutions provider, Siemens ensures cost-effective and energy-efficient operation of the Ethianum's building technology, including e.g. heating, ventilation and cooling systems. The investment in leading-edge building technology is calculated over the entire lifecycle. About 80 percent of the costs for a building are incurred in the operating phase, with 40 percent of this being energy costs alone.
Building automation systems from Siemens also ensure seamless interaction of all components and technical systems. Intelligent building management enables the complex processes in the technical systems to be visualised and the operating characteristics to be optimized accordingly. This puts the clinic in a position to achieve savings without sacrificing convenience. Siemens also provides data for what are called "green building monitors". In this way the company creates the basis for displaying all current energy consumption in the building at a glance, and also keeps users informed with weather forecast data and energy-saving tips.
Quality for the patient
The Ethianum aims to make diagnostic examinations as pleasant as possible for the patients. With this in mind, Siemens has supplied the Magnetom Verio, a high-field magnetic resonance (MR) tomography scanner with a particularly large 70-centimeter opening bore. This is especially considerate of patients who tend to suffer feelings of anxiety. Siemens' innovative Tim (Total imaging matrix) technology significantly shortens examination times in the MR scanner and so helps patients and staff complete the examination more efficiently. Magnetom Verio delivers clinical images of very high quality and at the same time operates extremely economically in terms of resource usage, and is environmentally friendly since the magnet has a closed helium cycle. This means that no helium escapes and so there is also no need to replenish this expensive raw material.
Efficient communication
An intelligent communications network supports the physicians and specialist medical staff in delivering the best possible care to patients in the Ethianum. The HiMed Cockpit, a 15-inch monitor with keyboard, gives patients their own multimedia console, with television, video and internet access, at their bedside. Thanks to a personalized chipcard, physicians and specialist medical staff have secure access to the sensitive data of the hospital information system. This optimizes processes in the hospital, with energy savings as an added bonus, makes the latest patient information available faster, and smoothes the way to a paperless hospital. What's more, the Cockpit also allows patients to control the climate in their room.
