FacilitiesNet

Surgery Center Goes Cutting Edge with LED Lighting

Raleigh Orthopaedic Clinic (ROC) in northwest Raleigh, N.C., can trace its roots all the way back to 1919, when one of the founding physicians hung out a shingle in a quaint Victorian house in the center of town. The practice has grown to include 19 board-certified orthopaedic surgeons and an extensive support staff, making it the largest orthopaedic practice in Wake County. With all this growth came the need to upgrade facilities with a new 98,000-square-foot practice headquarters and surgery center, which would provide enough space for the patient clinic, in-office pharmacy, diagnostics like MRI, physical therapy and their Orthopaedic Urgent Care. The crown jewel of the new clinic is the Raleigh Orthopaedic Surgery Center, a joint venture between Raleigh Orthopaedic and Rex Healthcare and an AAAHC-accredited outpatient facility featuring four orthopaedic operating rooms and two procedure rooms. A few years ago, Dr. G. Hadley Callaway, president of Raleigh Orthopaedic, participated alongside Cree in a workshop to build an LED surgical lamp. He was so impressed with what Cree brought to the table that he reached out to the company as the practice sought to outfit the new clinic. According to Dr. Callaway, in building the new clinic it was important that the facility make a statement to patrons that the ROC is on the cutting edge. In addition, healthcare facilities have some of the most rigorous lighting requirements of any setting. Superior light quality with exceptional color rendering supports better patient outcomes by enabling staff to make more accurate skin and wound care assessment. Raleigh Orthopaedic Clinic chose Cree’s CR22 and CR24 LED troffers to provide general illumination throughout the building. The fixtures deliver high efficacy, 90+ CRI (color rendering index) and consistent color temperatures. The CR Series of LED troffers also offers dimming functionality, providing better visibility in diagnostic and clinical areas. Raleigh Orthopaedic’s new facility includes a spacious physical therapy center spanning the length of the facility’s third floor. Using the CR troffers’ dimming capability, the staff is able to adjust the troffers to light levels that suit the use of the space. Higher light levels are used on the side of the therapy center with exercise bikes and weights, while lower levels work well on the other end of the center, where patients often lie on tables as they receive treatment. In the new Surgery Center, the troffers allow the light levels to be adjusted for maximum illumination during treatment and patient care, with lower light levels when patients are recovering. The clinic has benefited in several ways from the Cree LED lighting solution. First there's the dimming capability, as well as quiet operation without the buzz that was present in the old facility's fixtures. The recessed fixtures in the new facility also don't gather dust, reducing maintenance. And the quality of light has improved, providing brighter and cheerier environment, according to the company.