The Client:     Broward Health Medical Center (BHMC), Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Furniture Dealer:     Empire Office

Furniture Manufacturer:     Norix Group, Inc.

Product Solution:     Norix Attenda® Series, Hondo® Series and Ultra-Max® Seating

Broward Health is one of the ten largest public healthcare systems in the United States – operating over 30 healthcare facilities in south Florida. The Broward Health Medical Center (formerly known as Broward General) in Ft. Lauderdale also operates an inpatient behavioral health unit that serves an adult population.

In a planned renovation of the unit, the facility looked to replace the deteriorating wood furniture in patient rooms and group therapy rooms with more durable pieces that offered the safety and performance features which are essential in a psychiatric population.

Once funding was approved for the renovation, the Broward County Health Department looked to Karen Scheinberg, BHMC’s Construction Representative, to select the new furnishings.  Karen worked closely with the managers of the Behavioral Healthcare department to establish a set of furniture criteria which included recommendations by the patient care staff.

During the evaluation and selection process, representatives from Norix Group presented a variety of furniture options for both patient rooms and dayrooms to hospital officials. John Aiello and Lee Winer, the local product reps for Norix, demonstrated the ways which Norix’ construction methods and quality materials address staff concerns for patient safety and security, as well as hygiene and maintainability. In addition to the superior durability of Norix furniture, the style options and color selections make it easy for facilities to achieve continuity both in appearance and performance throughout the unit.

BHMC placed orders for patient room furniture and dayroom furniture from Norix Attenda® Series, Hondo® Series and Ultra-Max® lines of healthcare furniture. The Attenda® beds offer one-piece, seamless construction to deliver the best combination of safety, cleanability and extreme durability.  For lounge areas and group therapy rooms, the Hondo® Series and Ultra-Max® seating were also chosen for the tough, one-piece molded construction and a modern design aesthetic.

Attenda Series

Norix Ultra Max Chair Norix Hondo Chair

After the BHMC project was completed, a post-installation evaluation affirmed the superior performance of Norix furniture in meeting the demands of behavioral healthcare environments. As a result, Broward Health pre-approved the use of Norix furniture in its other facilities and shortly afterward, purchased and installed Norix furniture at a second behavioral healthcare unit at its Imperial Point Medical Center.