How Phononic is upping the game on hospital refrigeration

Solid-state heating and cooling technology company Phononic recently got its Evolve refrigerators into the new North Carolina Heart & Vascular Hospital at UNC Rex in Raleigh, N.C.

UNC Rex Healthcare is using a combination of 1.8 and 5.5 CuFt Evolve refrigerators in its pharmacy, patient support areas and medicine rooms in conjunction with medication management systems, Phononic (Durham, N.C.) announced March 21.

Rex Health Ventures (RHV) – which UNC Rex Healthcare created to foster innovative technologies in the healthcare sector – helped make the installation possible.

Phononic boasts that its solid-state refrigeration enables uniform, precise and reliable cooling, doing away with the noise, potential toxicity and other problems that can come with conventional vapor compression refrigerators. More accurate, reliable temperature control and better inventory protection mean that nursing staff no longer need to worry about refrigerators, according to the company. That means time freed to spend more time with patients and their families.

“The Evolve refrigerators are simplistic in design and have less moving parts, which makes them easy to maintain and energy efficient,” said Jeff Carter, director of facilities, construction and biomedical engineering at UNC Rex Healthcare, in a Phononic news release.

“When we tested the refrigerators in the lab, we found them to be very reliable, providing close, tight temperature tolerances and were easy for staff to access and use. This is why we decided to deploy Evolve in our new 306,000-square-foot hospital.”

Jerilin Kenney, VP and general manager of life sciences and healthcare at Phononic, boasted that the partnership with UNC Rex “showcases the next generation technologies we’ll see implemented across healthcare.”

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