Hospital Carpeting Aimed at Reducing Noise
If the hospital seems much quieter to
you these days, there is a good reason.
During the Christmas holidays 1,291
square yards of Antron II Design VI
carpet were installed in the main
corridors of the first floor hospital
building and 1,115 square yards of'
Antron II Faculty carpet were installed
on Reed Ward.
The manufactured Lee's carpet,
fabricated from DuPont yarn called
Antron II nylon, was bought from the
Educational Equipment Company of
Raleigh. Due to the heavy traffic in the
hospital during the daytime hours, the
installation of the carpet was performed
during the evening and early morning
hours.
In order to save time and money and
provide safety in eliminating the smoke
hazards of foam rubber backings and
paddings, the new carpet was installed by
"direct glue-down" over jute.
As an experimental pilot project at
Duke, the continued use and expansion
of carpeted areas will be determined by
the success of the present project.
The need for such a project grew out
of a desire on the part of the
administration and Environmental
Services to keep hospital noise at a
minimum, increase safety, provide
sanitary conditions and maintain a
pleasant, aesthetically appealing hospital
setting.
The hospital carpet committee was
headed by former hospital associate
director Sam Huston and Steve Caprio,
director of Environmental Services. Other
members of the committee instrumental
in planning and executing the project
were from the medical center Planning
Office.
According to ServiceMaster, a leading
hospital cleaning corporation contracted
to maintain the upkeep of the carpet, the
feasibility of using carpeting at Duke with
as much as 24,000 "traffics" per day on
the first floor is favorable. (A "traffic"
refers to an object, whether animate or
inanimate, passing over the carpet).
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duke uniucRsity mc6ic&.l ccntaR
VOLUME 21, NUMBER 4
JANUARY 25, 1974
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA
Metcalf and Wheeler Are Appointed
New Assistant Directors of the Hospital
Two new assistant directors have been
appointed at Duke Hospital. They are
Robert D. Metcalf and Kenneth E.
Wheeler. Announcement of the
ROBERT D. METCALF
KENNETH E. WHEELER
appointments canne from Richard H.
Peck, administrative director of the
hospital.
Metcalf will work with the medical
center's Planning Office and Dr. Jane
Elchlepp, assistant vice president for
health affairs, on the design and
construction of the new Comprehensive
Cancer Center, scheduled for completion
in early 1977. He also will assume
administrative duties with the dietetics
and environmental services departments.
Wheeler will have administrative
responsibility for the medical center's
clinical laboratories and a number of
service departments including the
Sabiston Elected
To Two Positions
Dr. David C. Sabiston, chairman of the
Department of Surgery, is beginning 1974
with two new jobs—both prestigious tasks
within his profession.
Sabiston is the new editor of the
Annals of Surgery, the nation's foremost
journal of surgical science, and he also is
the new president of the Southern
Surgical Association.
His elections to the two positions are
not related, but the Annals of Surgery has
published the proceedings of the
Southern Surgical Association since 1936.
It began publishing the proceedings of the
American Surgical Association eight years
earlier.
Sabiston, who is James B. Duke
Professor of Surgery, is the seventh editor
of the journal which began publication in
1885 and is the oldest continuously
published surgical review in the English
language. Monthly it publishes original
papers pertaining to clinical surgery and
laboratory experimental surgery.
Sabiston, who took over the editorship
with the January issue, said he envisions
no major changes in the journal in the
near future but that there will be
increased emphasis on editorial
commentary.
His appointment to the continuing
(Continued on page 2)
pharmacy, central supply and materials
management. In addition, he will be
responsible for the emergency room, the
Surgical Outpatient Clinic and the
Department of Radiology.
A native of Madison, Wis., Metcalf is a
1948 graduate of the Northern Illinois
College of Optometry and a 1963
graduate of the Medical College of
Virginia's hospital administration
program.
As a 27-year veteran of the U.S. Air
Force, he has served in various
health-related management positions and
has most recently been administrator of a
270-bed Air Force hospital at Clark Air
Base in the Phillipines.
Metcalf and his wife, the former
Christine McLean of Whitewater, Wis.,
have two children, Scott and Dale.
Wheeler received a B.S. degree from
Cornell University in 1964 and a master's
in business administration from the
University of Chicago in 1966. He has
served as an administrative assistant at
Passavant Memorial Hospital in Chicago, a
member of the U.S. Public Health Service
in the Office of Comprehensive Health
Planning and, prior to coming to Duke,
assistant executive vice president of the
McGaw Medical Center at Northwestern
University in Chicago.
He is married to the former Lorraine
Mackoviak of East Chicago, Ind., and
their two children are Christie and
Michael.
ServiceMaster management engineer of
carpet-care, Wally Duzansky, said that the
proper type of carpet can be used in any
area.
"For example," he explained, "at
McCarran Airport in Las Vegas, they
had over 10,000,0(K) traffics over a
two-and-one-half year period. The
original life expectancy was five years.
However, after the first two-and-one-half
years, the life expectancy was readjusted
to eight to 10 years.
"This carpet," he continued, "was an
Antron II fiber woven into Design 111.
Lee's feels Design VI (which is presently
being used on the first floor of Duke
Hospital) will out-perform its
predecessor."
According to ServiceMaster findings,
the following is a list of reasons why
carpeting is more advantageous than
terrazzo flooring. Each one of these
statements has been substantiated by
E.A. Taylor, director of aviation at
McCarran Airport;
1—Acoustical advantages. Kodora
Acoustical Laboratories in Elmhurst,
N.Y., ran experiments that show vinyl tile
floors- had noise ratings seven to 12 times
higher than carpeting, and terrazzo had
ratings nine to 14 times higher.
2—Thermal properties. Kansas State
University's Environmental Laboratory
estimates that carpeting results in five to
13 per cent less heating and/or air
conditioning costs.
3—Aesthetics. There is no more
economical or faster way to replace an
old floor than putting new, modern
colorful carpeting over it.
4—Safety. The problems of people
slipping and falling are virtually gone. Wet
floors are safety hazards. Wet carpeting is
just a clean-up problem. At McCarran
Airport the lowest three-year accident
rate on their old terrazzo was 91 claims.
During the first three-year period in
which the carpeting was in use, not a
single claim was received.
Among the other properties of Antron
II are: It is non-allergenic; It is engineered
to reflect light rather than allowing it to
pass through the fiber; The abrasion
resistance guards against rapid wear and
its excellent crush recovery properties
cushion impact and reduce traffic
patterning; It meets government
flammability standards in commercial,
institutional and residential applications;
It has good cleanability; It is soil resistant
— soil collects mostly on the surface and
can be easily cleaned.
According to Duzansky of
ServiceMaster, a carpet maintenance
program can save approximately 25 hours
per week compared to the maintenance
of a terrazzo floor.
"A carpet maintenance program will
give a savings on the first floor corridor of
the hospital only because of its being a
non-patient area," he explained.
"Normally we have to be aware not only
of a good visual appearance, but also that
the area be bacteria-free if possible. This
corridor would receive more of a
(Continued on page 3}
CARPET
PLANNING-Ued-
' ical center interior
i designer Linda
McNeer uses a plan
of the first floor
hospital building to
ifKlicate where the
new Antron II
Design VI carpet was
installed. Aside from
the main corridors,
1,115 square yards
of Anton II Faculty
carpet were installed
o n Reed Ward
during the Christmas
holidays.