The tube system is used by UVA Health to transport lab samples, medications, and other supplies quickly around the various areas of the hospital. Containers known as carriers are propelled through a network of tubes using compressed air and conveyor belts.
The system supports approximately 4,000 transactions a day (a transaction is each time a carrier travels through the system). About 90 percent of these transactions are samples from the hospital traveling to the Clinical Core Lab for testing.
The HSPP Pneumatic Tube System team — which includes Electrical Supervisor Michael Light, Senior Technicians Ray Moton and Chris Fox and Technician Del Thorne — is responsible for the maintenance and repair of the system, which was manufactured and installed by contractor Swisslog. The team addresses repairs of the physical hardware, including if a carrier gets stuck in a tube.
The system is also controlled by software and consists of a series of network-connected control devices, legacy cable-connected control devices, servers and multiple read-only monitoring workstations. In October 2020, it was determined that the system’s server needed to be replaced and that the FM Technology & Innovation team would take over the maintenance of the new servers and software (the system was previously maintained by UVA Health IT).
The HSPP Pneumatic Tube System team includes Electrical Supervisor Michael Light, Senior Technicians Ray Moton and Chris Fox and Technician Del Thorne. Technology & Innovation System Administrator Joey Bailey worked with the HSPP team to improve the security and reliability of the system. (Photos by Jane Centofante / Facilities Management)
Technology & Innovation System Administrator Joey Bailey worked with the HSPP team and Swisslog to replace the system’s server and install a second server as a backup. Bailey programmed the servers to run a nightly backup and created documentation for proper maintenance of the software. The FM T&I team now serves as the primary contact for issues directly relating to the operating systems of the servers, server hardware, authentication, networking, and monitoring client workstation hardware and operating systems.
Over the past year, the HSPP team completed and managed several other upgrades to the tube system. These projects included replacing two main transition units and a traffic control unit at the Core Lab, insulating a section of the system that runs on the exterior of the Lee Street garage and a quarterly maintenance shutdown of the entire system to address repairs.
