Making Hospitals Safe for Our Frontline Staff

Working six days straight, a team of Johnson Controls China engineers set up a video conferencing facility in Shanghai Tongji Hospital’s quarantine zone to help protect frontline healthcare workers’ safety with the influx of patients. 

The coronavirus outbreak took place in Shanghai close to the traditional Chinese New Year holiday. Companies and businesses were closed, and hospitals in Shanghai were crowded with patients seeking tests and help at unprecedented levels.

The Johnson Controls team worked tirelessly throughout the holidays to set up the video conferencing system in Shanghai Tongji Hospital, an AAA-rated hospital in Shanghai that is able to function as a quarantine facility for patients.

“The video conferencing system works very well,” said Zhao Haipeng, Deputy President of the Shanghai Tongji Hospital. “It built a bridge at the right time between the hospital's command center for combating the epidemic on one end, and the fever clinic and quarantine wards on the other.” 

Johnson Controls dispatched, installed, and tested the system, as well as trained the operators all within a week. The video conferencing system:

• Minimized the number of people entering and exiting the quarantine areas, hence mitigating transmission risk and reducing the use of scarce personal protective equipment
• Enabled remote diagnosis
• Enabled the hospital’s command center to obtain timely field updates and respond promptly
• Provided an avenue for stressed healthcare professionals to receive remote counselling support

Thank you, team, for stepping up and making a big impact to protect the medical staff in the fight against COVID-19!