The E3 Pandemic Response co-innovation project has been operating an international hospital pilot in the National Institute for Infectious Diseases Prof. Matei Bals hospital for almost a year now. The collaboration with the Matei Bals hospital has been valuable to the E3 project, to better understand air purifying in a hospital, that doesn’t have any mechanical air conditioning.
E3 Pandemic Response co-innovation project, together with the Embassy of Finland in Romania organized a seminar called How to make hospitals health safe? on December 15th, 2023.
The seminar was organized to shed light on understanding airborne transmission and showcase the results attained in the pilot, which has been ongoing in Matei Bals hospital. It was also an opportunity to tell more about the E3 research and Finnish expertise for example in the fields of hospital building and air purification.
Additionally, the seminar aimed to give insight into recent examples of designing modern, functional, and safe hospitals and to discuss possibilities for extending Romanian-Finnish collaboration further. One objective for the future is to enhance and strengthen existing collaboration by participating in a suitable EU funding call together.
The attendees of the seminar were constructers, authorities from both municipal and national levels, architects, researchers, and doctors.
Promising results are rising
The results from the pilot are promising: air purifiers efficiently reduced airborne particulate matter in the naturally ventilated Matei Bals hospital. Also, the air purifiers minimise the spread of pathogens from the patient room to the corridors. In the waiting area, the air purifiers protect patients and personnel from the airborne infections.
As part of the pilot, air purifiers from the E3 companies Air0 and Inspector Sec (ISEC) have been installed and operating on the hospital premises in the COVID department and waiting room. Sensors from Airlyse have been measuring the indoor air all around the year in real-time.
In addition, the researchers from E3 have also done an intensive indoor air measurement campaign on the premises with devices from VTT and Tampere University. Granlund, an expert company in hospital planning, has also been participating in the study by bringing an understanding of the requirements of a modern hospital.
International collaboration
International collaboration is crucial for realising the E3 Pandemic Response project plan. The international hospital pilot and collaboration with the Matei Bals hospital have given valuable insight into understanding different buildings, and locations, and how to maximize the clean air in older buildings by using state-of-the-art technologies.
In addition, thanks to the international hospital pilot, the E3 project can compare the results attained in the international hospital pilot (Romania) to the pilots, that have been ongoing in Finland in HUS hospitals.