Ideas That Work: Maximize Storage Space With Mobile Shelves

Practical pearls from your colleagues

Wheeled storage shelves can supplement or even replace fixed shelving at HOPDs and ASCs, says Thomas W. Durick, MD, of The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus. The shelves/carts can be wheeled from OR to OR, and items removed as they’re needed.

One HOPD at Wexner even has a wheeled cart dedicated to anesthesia supplies such as ventilation circuits, filters and humidifiers. Supplies for various service lines can have their own cart as well. The mobile storage units help OR teams plainly see the supplies so knowing what needs restocking at the end of the day is obvious.

Storing them when not in use can be done in one room by lining six or seven carts up with just enough space for one person to walk between them, which makes use of otherwise unused open space in the middle of a room, says Dr. Durick. Don’t forget to mark the walls 24 inches below the ceiling so you don’t violate CMS fire safety regulations when storing items. OSM