Tennant FaST prescribed the best prescription for healthcare
December 1st 2006

The Customer St.Vincent's University Hospital in Ireland is a major academic teaching hospital providing a front line emergency service and medical care. St Vincent's provides over 40 medical specialities and has in excess of 500 inpatient beds.

The hospital recently opened an impressive new expansion, boasting approximately 400,000-square feet of flooring.

The Hospital is now maintained by Noonan Services, who began business in 1977 with a total staff of five people.They are now the largest privately owned Building Service Contractors in Ireland with over 5500 staff.

The Challenge Needless to say,we have plenty of traffic through this hospital that makes it necessary to clean the floors everyday," said Tony Gibbins, St.

Vincent's Site Manager for Noonan's. It is a huge job with a lot of demands for us to deliver great performance whilst remaining cost effective."

After years of management by a different cleaning contractor St.Vincent's realised it was time for a change, it was clear that the previous contractors had not got the best out of the facility flooring.

With the vast amount of corridors and high traffic, St.Vincent's thought it was natural for the flooring to lose its shine and lustre after some time "They were always confident that the results were hygienic but became increasingly disappointed with then end image provided by the previous cleaning regime," explained Michael Darcy,Technical Services Manager for Noonan Services. St.Vincents decided to explore other options after the previous contractor stated that that the only way to bring back the shine was to replace all the flooring!" With the increasing importance of providing a safer and cleaner environment, for staff, visitors and patients Noonan Services knew that to successfully tender for the contract they had to source the best tools for the job.With years of experience they were confident that they could.

The need was fulfilled when highly successful Tennant Company dealers Team Hygiene introduced Noonan's to the outstanding FaST technology and award winning T3 walk-behind and T7 ride-on scrubber driers. As a relatively new company Team Hygiene had already built up a strong reputation as providers of quality products, support and service.

The Solution FaST (Foam-activated Scrubbing Technology) is a patented cleaning process that injects air into a water and detergent mixture to create a foam cleansing agent.

Using less water and less detergent, FaST leaves justscrubbed floors immediately dry and safe. It also increases productivity by 30 percent by reducing by 70 percent the number of empty-fill cycles per use.

Team Hygiene knew that the FaST technology could help Noonan's clean St.Vincent's. Leo Harrigan, Managing Director, contacted Noonan's and told them about FaST.

The conversation sparked Noonan's interest enough that the company arranged for a product demonstration at the Hospital.Team Hygiene conducted the tests and the immediate effect of the FaST machines was clearly visible.

"As FaST uses foam as opposed to liquid detergent. Foam—created by injecting air into a water and detergent mixture—dramatically reduces the amount of water used to create the cleaning solution", explained Leo Harrigan.

Because less water is used foam is less slippery than traditional cleaning agents.And with less water and no messy detergent, foam also won't migrate or spatter.As a result, foam is, by its very nature, a safer choice for obtaining cleaner and drier floors."

Noonan Service have always provides their customer with options, they knew that St.Vincent's current scrubber driers were not up to the task, so along with the Tennant machines they also demonstrated comparison machines from a major competitive brand The Tennant demo was a success, providing Noonan's and St.

Vincent's with first-hand knowledge of the excellent results and safety benefits the FaST technology offers.

It was a simple decision to make. Every aspect of the Tennant equipment was superior to the competition. Clean floors became cleaner, they became brighter, they were instantly dry, and also importantly the machines were simple to operate. From the first opportunity to view the machines working both Noonan's and St.

Vincent's new which product they preferred.

The initial demonstration took place in July 2005 and was an important element in securing the contract from Noonan Services.

"When we were awarded the contract there were a number of decisive factors," said Michael Darcy.The most important were our quality of service, the speed of response from our partners at Team Hygiene and obviously the outstanding results from the Tennant products.

Maintaining a safe and clean environment, free from infection, is an essential priority within the healthcare services.Having led the way in this sector for many years,we have now re-defined the nature of hospital cleaning through our unrivalled, professional approach and use of the best tools for the task."

The Installation The partnership between Noonan's and Team Hygiene meant that St.

Vincent's were guaranteed comprehensive management of all their cleaning needs.

The entire process from demonstration through to order and delivery took only four weeks.The initial order for four T3's and one T7 represented the first Tennant product to be used by both Noonan's and St.Vincent's.

The simplicity of FaST scrubber driers with their one button controls, excellent manoeuvrability the automated detergent dosing system meant less training time was required for the new operators and guaranteed consistent results.

The impact of the FaST machines is impressive."I used to drain and refill my machine three or four times during one cleaning run. Now, I scrub the same area without returning to the janitor's closet," stated one of the 60 Noonan operators at the facility. Plus, the floors are immediately dry. I don't have to go back with a mop or towel like I normally did. It is much safer and so much easier without the chemical mixing and constant empty/refills."

The Results Tony Gibbins has been so impressed with the results that he has already stated his desire that only Tennant machines be used in the new extension.The machines he joyfully refers to as "the green ones"have proven to be a success all around.

St Vincent's needed to maintain the safety and cleanliness of a crowded hospital that cares for patients around the clock.They have had impressive results using this patented cleaning system."The automated foam scrubbing system provides consistent cleaning results and,best of all, helps assure the safety of the medical staff and hospital visitors,"he said."We're now able to safely scrub when more doctors and nurses are on the floor because the floor dries fast, reducing the number of slip and fall injuries,we have also been able to bring back the shine to our current flooring"

The partnership between Noonan's,Team Hygiene and Tennant has provided St.Vincent's University Hospital with a clean, safe and hygienic environment that sets a new standard for Hospital Cleaning.

Hospital Hygiene Exhibition To see FaST in action and view other Tennant machines visit The Cleaning Show at the NEC, Birmingham, March 13th -15th 2007.

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