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health care facilities.“The most important thing

right now for flooring as abenefit to hospitals is a trueno-finish maintenance proce-dure, where all they do isclean the floor as needed andbuff it,” says Harris. With rub-ber flooring, “hospitals do notneed to apply extraneous seal-ers or waxes, which saveslabor needed for applying andremoving finishes,” he says. Eliminating the need to

strip and wax floors as withVCT also keeps volatile organ-ic compounds (VOCs) out ofthe air and the waste stream,Harris says.Jeremy Whipple, marketing

manager of Roppe Corp., Fos-toria, Ohio, and sister compa-ny Flexco Corp., Tuscumbia,Ala., agrees that rubber floor-ing is gaining in popularity.

“The trend is growing expo-nentially for rubber now,”Whipple says. “You have rub-ber sheet flooring that pro-vides the same aesthetics,

same product specificationsthat vinyl can and in a moredurable product.”Though rubber products are

typically double the cost of

VCT flooring, the cost of VCTadds up quickly after factoringin maintenance, Whipplesays. “If a hospital has a facili-ty manager that is forward-

looking, he will do a test floorand determine what the main-tenance costs are for thatfloor. He will find out that dol-lar per square foot for VCTisn’t that cheap when it costsyou $2 per square foot tomaintain it.”Robin Guenther, FAIA, a

principal at Perkins+Will, alsosays that low-maintenanceflooring that is less chemicallyintensive in the cleaningprocess is an important factorfor hospitals purchasing newflooring. It improves indoorair quality and cuts mainte-nance costs, she says. Comfort and sound absorp-

tion are additional factors in

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SAFETY FIRSTThe neonatal inten-sive care unit in theMaimonides Medical

Center, Brooklyn,N.Y., uses Stratica, a

polyolefin flooringthat contains noPVC, is slip- and

fall-resistant and islow-maintenance.

Amtico International

NATURE’S POWER The EMHRegional Medical Center, Elyria, Ohio,uses resilient sheet vinyl flooring in itscatheterization treatment area to cre-ate a homelike atmosphere with adesign that combines elements resem-bling wood and stone. Armstrong

DURABILITY and ease ofMAINTENANCE are key

qualities for new flooring.

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Is there another type ofbuilding in the worldwhere a floor is expected

to deliver so much for somany than in a hospital? Notlikely when you consider thelengthy list of demands thatflooring products must satisfyevery day for as many yearsas possible in the uniquelysensitive environment of ahealth care facility.Hospital flooring needs to

stand up to heavy, around-the-clock foot traffic but also med-ical equipment, carts, bedsand more. It’s expected tokeep staff, patients and visi-tors as safe as possible fromslips and cushion them from

injury when falls do happen.Ideally, the flooring will easethe repetitive stresses andstrains of walking and stand-ing for medical staff who workon their feet for up to 12-hourshifts. Flooring is expected to be

durable, low maintenance andaid in infection preventiontoo. Plus, the floor’s decorativequalities have become desir-able for a growing number ofhospitals that want to achievethat “homey” feel for patientsand visitors. The greener ormore sustainable it is, the bet-ter. Of course, all this needs tobe accomplished at the lowestprice possible.

That’s quite a challenge.But it’s one that manufactur-ers continue to work at meet-ing as they develop flooringthat reflects the latest trendsand growing customerdemands. The result is anarray of products, includingrubber, vinyl sheet flooring,polyolefin, linoleum and ter-razzo, that serve as alterna-tives to the old standard vinylcomposition tile (VCT).

Long-term performanceNo matter the material, mosthospitals want flooring thatoffers long-term durability andlow maintenance, according tomanufacturers, designers and

green building advocatesinterviewed by Health Facili-ties Management. Those are the factors facility

managers, designers and spec-ifiers need to consider firstwhen purchasing or recom-mending floor products, saysDave Harris, sales manager,commercial division, R.C.A.Rubber Co., Akron, Ohio. R.C.A. makes FlexiFlor rub-

ber flooring, which is com-prised of synthetic and naturalrubbers and clay and offerslong life, low maintenanceand strong slip-resistance ben-efits, he says. Those benefitsare cause for the growing pop-ularity of rubber flooring in

MARKETPLACE« SUPPLIER INNOVATIONS

FLOORED!Latest products respond to health care trends

BY JEFF FERENC

Hospitals have higher expectations for newflooring these days. They want slip-resistant,natural-looking, soft and easy-to-clean materi-als. Manufacturers are rising to the occasionwith a host of moderately priced products thatgive hospitals more colorful choices than ever.

MAKE IT GREENThe naturalresources used inlinoleum flooring,such as in thepediatric inpatientunit at the Mai-monides MedicalCenter, Brooklyn,N.Y., make it thechoice for a num-ber of applica-tions. Forbo Floor-ing Systems NA

INTERIORS

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features, is polyvinyl chloride(PVC)-free and requires nostripping and waxing. Plus,it’s extremely durable, saysPaul Eanes, vice president ofsales, Amtico.West Coast-based health

care system giant Kaiser Per-manente likes Stratica somuch that in 2004 the healthorganization mandated theinstallation of either Straticaor rubber flooring in all of itsnew or renovated health carefacilities. The goal was to improve

patient and staff safety byreducing the number of fallsand slips that was costingKaiser Permanente millions

of dollars in compensation,according to the summary ofa resilient-flooring whitepaper the health care orga -nization issued in May 2009.The new flooring also elimi-nated the need for cleaningchemicals used with priorvinyl products.

Just like homeWhile perhaps not the highestpriority in choosing products,the trend to make hospitals as“homey” and comfortable aspossible through interior designcontinues to grow. Manufactur-ers have adapted their productsto fill this need by expandingcolor lines and offering prod-

ucts that mimic natural ele-ments such as stone or wood.“Flexibility and function are

key components of design inhospitals,” says MichaelRaskin, president and CEO,Metroflor Corp., Darien, Conn.,which makes low-mainte-nance, slip-resistant and anti-bacterial sheet vinyl and vinylplanks and tiles that resemblewood grain. The trend towardwarmer colors and natural-looking flooring and increas-ingly in single-patient roomsreflects what hospitals see asdesirable for their patients.“Patients prefer not to share

rooms and would prefer tohave their own rooms, but

FOR MORE INFORMATION

For information on theflooring systems dis-cussed in this month’s“Marketplace” feature,readers can contact thefollowing manufacturers:

»Amtico International404-267-1900www.amtico.com

»Armstrong717-397-0611www.armstrong.com

»Ecore International877-326-7873www.ecosurfaces.com

»Forbo Flooring Systems NA800-842-7839 www.forboflooringna.com

»Metroflor 866-687-6357www.metroflorusa.com

»R.C.A. Rubber Co.800-321-2340www.rcarubber.com

»Roppe Corp. 800-537-9527www.roppe.com

POPULARCHOICE The Charleston(W.Va.) GeneralHospital uses rub-ber flooring, whicha growing numberof hospitals areturning to becausethe material is PVC-free, easy tomaintain and highlydurable. R.C.A.Rubber Co.

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» FLOORED! DURABLE AND SAFE The Teknoflor commercialsheet vinyl flooring product offers durability as well

as anti-fungal and anti-bacterial benefits that make itappealing to hospitals and health care clinics.

The material is also easy to maintain. Metroflor

choosing flooring such as rub-ber or linoleum, Guenthersays. “Hospitals are lookingfor softer, more cushionedflooring for occupational safe-ty and health reasons. Hospi-tals are trying to find flooringthat is more ergonomic andcushions people’s feet andlegs from the hardness of theconcrete slabs that are gener-ally underneath the flooringsurface,” she says.Rich Campbell, executive

vice president, sales and mar-keting, ECORE International,Lancaster, Pa., echoes thebelief that “a durable, long-lasting flooring product that iseasy to maintain” such as rub-

ber are top priorities for manyhospitals. The company’sECOsurfaces CommercialFlooring makes it easy totransport rolling loads and

provides sound-dampeningcharacteristics, both importantfeatures for hospitals, he says.Linoleum is also gaining in

popularity with health care

facilities. Forbo Flooring Sys-tems, Hazleton, Pa., makes aproduct called Marmoleumthat is the company’s trade-marked name for linoleum.

Made of natural resourcessuch as linseed oil, pine rosinand wood flour, the highlydurable material rates high onthe sustainable product scale,

according to designers andgreen building experts.In addition, linoleum has

strong antimicrobial proper-ties, says Casey Johnson,national sales manager, atForbo. He points to a study bythe North American ScienceAssociates Inc. (NAMSA) thatlinoleum performed the bestin preventing antimicrobialgrowth compared with otherflooring products.Besides offering luxury

vinyl tile (LVT) that can becustomized for health carefacilities, Amtico, Atlanta,offers a polyolefin flooringproduct called Stratica. It hasstrong slip- and fall-resistant

INTERIORS

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gaining in POPULARITY.

MARKETPLACE

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DOWN HOME Fostoria (Ohio) Community Hospital uses vinyl woodplank flooring with wood tones in thelobby admissions area. The colorsare common choices as hospitals tryto recreate the comfort of home forpatients and visitors. Roppe Corp.

FEEL THE WARMTH The lobbyarea of St. Vincent Children’sHospital, Indianapolis, exemplifiesa trend for some health care facili-ties to use rubber flooring materialwith a creative design and customcolors. ECORE International

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» FLOORED!

The perception of unsanitary tile and grout candirectly affect how patients rate your hospital.And patient satisfaction scores are important toyour success. Poor scores can mean low fundingand a tarnished image. But, replacing the tile isa costly, disruptive nuisance.

Now there’s a better solution! TheSaniGLAZE process offers you the benefit ofbeautiful, clean, tile that’s attractive to yourpatients – without construction headaches.It’s a proven process that starts by extracting

offensive soil andcontaminants and endsby sealing them outpermanently. Your patientswill thank you for it. Keepthem happy and keepyour scores high!

SaniGLAZE offers:

• No more odors• No more mold and mildew• No more embedded contaminants• Instant results

SaniGLAZE International is the world’s leader intile and grout solutions. Let us help you improveyour scores, call us today at 800.266.8060 orfind out more online at: www.tilescore.com.

Before After

The world’s leader in tile and grout restoration

www.saniglaze.com

“SaniGLAZE helpedour hospital’s patientratings recoverquickly.”

“I highly recommend them.”

regardless they want the rooms to be nice,”Raskin says. “Warm wood makes it lookless institutional and more like a home.”Hospitals are striving to be more natu-

ral and homelike with design in areassuch as patient rooms, corridors, materni-ty wards and public spaces—and flooringmaterials support that trend. “Hospitalsare going for natural-based palettes andcolors,” Guenther says. “Even if the mate-

rial isn’t actually made from naturalmaterials, clients select materials thatresemble natural.”Shannon Weir, senior marketing manag-

er, Armstrong, Lancaster, Pa., agrees thatflooring that offers low-maintenance clean-ing and is available in colors and stylesthat create a homelike atmosphere areimportant factors for hospitals, especiallythose that support evidence-based design

studies that claim soothing physical envi-ronments promote healing and safety. Weirsays the company’s heterogenous sheetvinyl is perfect for patient rooms.“A heterogeneous floor is great because

it’s hard surface and it’s very easy toclean,” she says. “They come in differentvisuals like woods and stones and theygive the environment that more homey orspa-like feel. It fits in with the evidence-based design trends in health care now.” Eanes says he sees health care facili-

ties putting more emphasis on interiordesign than they have in a long time byduplicating the look of home for outpa-tient spaces as well as for inpatient areas. “We see more style in the things that hospitals are asking for,” he says.

Baffling choices Despite the obvious and generally posi-tive trends, it’s frequently difficult tounderstand and sometimes downrightbaffling why hospitals choose a specificflooring product over another, says Jen-nifer DuBose, research associate, Geor-gia Institute of Technology. That’s what she has learned as she fin-

ishes a report based on a survey of archi-tects, installers, facility managers, design-ers and others involved in the purchase ofhealth care facility flooring systems. Thesurvey was done in collaboration withPractice Greenhealth, Health Care WithoutHarm and the Green Guide for Health Care.“Some of the interesting results that we

found are even though this group we sur-veyed is more concerned about sustain-ability, they’re still using VCT and sheetvinyl a lot,” she says. “Those are standardproducts that are still being used even bypeople who want to get away from them.In many cases, people who love rubberor linoleum flooring products are stillusing vinyl products in some areas.” For some hospitals, low first cost and

aesthetics—as in the colors available andthe ability to simulate natural materialsor create a homey environment—are stillthe main factors when buying a flooringproduct, DuBose says. “Cleanability is a big driver for choosing

flooring, both the ability to get it clean anddoes it look clean,” she says. “People lovethe shine of VCT because they think rub-ber never gets the same high-gloss look.Then there are those who prefer rubberbecause VCT can create glare.” HFM

Jeff Ferenc is senior editor for Health Facilities

Management.