Watson Clinic
Lakeland, FL Indoor Lighting
After studying its lighting infrastructure, Watson Clinic’s facilities staff selected a Cree® LED lighting solution and is now enjoying more light per space while advancing its efficiency objectives with daylight harvesting. It’s estimated that the system will pay for itself in two and a half years.
Opportunity
Established in 1941, Watson Clinic LLP is one of the largest multi-specialty medical clinics in the southeast, providing comprehensive healthcare services to residents of the greater Central Florida area.
In 1969, Watson Clinic became the first clinic in the country to be accredited by the American Association of Medical Clinics, and has continued to receive a prestigious accreditation from the Accreditation Association of Ambulatory Health Care. The clinic’s orthopaedic department is one of the most renowned in the area, treating a number of top-shelf community sports teams, including the Detroit Tigers and Lakeland Flying Tigers baseball teams.
Watson Clinic has now grown to include more than 200 board-certified physicians representing more than 40 medical and surgical specialties at its main clinic in Lakeland and 17 other locations in Polk, Pasco and Hillsborough counties.
“We are committed to exceeding patient expectations and offering the latest technologies and most qualified physicians to deliver a level of healthcare normally afforded to only the largest metropolitan areas,” says Watson Clinic Chairman and CEO Dr. Louis Saco.
Maintaining its position of excellence for the entire community means that Watson Clinic staff must consistently assess and improve operations wherever possible to ensure both the quality of care it provides and the affordability of its services. In the summer of 2009, Assistant Director of Facilities Gary Picklesimer launched a study of the main clinic’s lighting infrastructure to assess how to cut costs while looking to continue to improve operational efficiency.
Solution
Picklesimer came to recognize that Cree “offered the best product from a design, cost and functional standpoint.”
Cree understands that healthcare facilities have some of the most rigorous lighting requirements of any setting. Doctors and nurses must have high luminosity and superior color rendering to make accurate diagnoses.
But a healthcare facility is more than a diagnosis and treatment center. Less stressed, more comfortable patients have better outcomes and leave with a greater feeling of satisfaction.
Picklesimer chose to replace the clinic’s 75-watt halogen lamps with LR6™ LED downlights that deliver beautiful ambient light and valuable energy savings to elevate the look of healthcare spaces along with their bottom lines.
Powered by Cree TrueWhite® Technology, only Cree indoor LED fixtures can deliver an exclusive combination of industry-leading efficacy, 90+ CRI and consistent warm or cool color temperatures, giving healthcare facilities years of beautiful, consistent light and energy savings.
Watson Clinic is also now using Cree CR22™ and CR24™ LED lights. Cree LED troffers deliver clean, crisp light at an affordable cost, creating quiet ceilings that are better for patient and staff comfort, and the operating budget.
Also powered by Cree TrueWhite® Technology, the CR22 troffer provides a minimum 90 lumens per watt (LPW) standard efficacy, while the CR24 luminaire delivers up to 5,000 lumens of exceptional 90+ CRI light at 90 to 110 lumens per watt. Both fixtures are designed to last 50,000 or 75,000 hours and are backed by an industry-best fixture warranty.
Cree innovation has also enabled Watson Clinic’s introduction of 0-10V dimming control as it rolls out “daylight harvesting” throughout its buildings. With daylight harvesting, as the sun rises the lights dim down from the edge of the rooms to the middle, saving energy and providing consistent lighting throughout the day.
Benefits
While advancing its efficiency objectives with this Cree lighting system, the clinic also now has more light per space. Its patients have been noting how much brighter and cheerier the lobby areas seem, and staff has particularly appreciated the improved lighting in the clinic’s diagnostic exam rooms.
Thanks to the improved lighting, the facilities team has been able to remove eight fixtures in one lobby and twelve in another.
In advancing its commitment to top-quality care at an affordable cost, Watson Clinic staff continues to assess operations and enhance efficiencies. This Cree lighting solution helps further that objective.
Products Used
