Sovah Health rolls out new hospital alert system

Alerts will now be now be described in 'plain language' rather than colors

MARTINSVILLE, Va. – The next time you go to the hospital in Danville or Martinsville, you may hear something you've never heard before.

You'll now hear alerts like, "Medical alert. Rapid response. Room 438" that tell you what's going on.

The new alert system was rolled out Tuesday morning and replaces the old system, which used colors, like "code red" or "code blue."

Sovah Health marketing director Liz Harris said this will help both employees and the public.

"I think that there's a nationwide move towards plain language. We're not the first hospital or health system to do it," Harris said. "We had different codes, or alert systems, at our different campuses, Danville and Martinsville, so this was an opportunity to come together and align things across campuses so we're consistent."

While Tuesday marked the first use of the new alert system in the hospitals, it was unveiled to the Sovah's Patient Family Advisory Council last Thursday.

Harris said everyone seemed "very complimentary and excited" about the change.

For more information about the new alert system, contact the Martinsville campus at 276-666-7200 or the Danville campus at 434-799-2100.