Hospital beds are normally intended for rest, but on Saturday they had a completely different position. In honor of the 25th anniversary of the Amphia Hospital, the parking lot in Breda turned into a real racing circuit. No Formula 1 cars, but squeaking wheels from hospital beds, cheerfully decorated by creative teams of employees: “We almost flew out of the corner.”
“Go, go, go!” there is a fanatic shouting on the parking deck of the Amphia Hospital. The bed race was anything but a simple sprint for the thirteen teams. The course was full of challenges that sometimes looked nasty a lot of daily work: slaloms without popping against the walls, puting a bed in resuscitation position or neatly parking without a hurry and bumps.
“Departments have sometimes built their beds for days.”
For the airy note, the participants also had to fill biscuit on the way to an infus pole and two cups of water to get it at the finish without spilling. “It is really an obstacle course,” says a participant panting afterwards. “I mainly looked up against the Trendelenburg stand (with the back tilted back, ed.). But yes, you will hear ‘running, running again!’ And then you just go. “
“It looks like carnival,” a spectator notes dry. Not strange, because the beds were decorated from bottom to top and the participants from head to toe dressed. “Three minutes and seven seconds”, team Flow Riders jubilates when they have pressed a red button just after the finish. “Totally good!”
According to organizer Nini Knapen, the highlight is the collaboration: “You just see that the fun is very large,” she shines. “Departments have built together for days on their beds. It is really good for team building.” Meeting leader Peter Joosten also emphasizes that in addition to speed, teamwork in particular was the deciding factor: “After all, in a hospital you should not pop the walls.”
“Ultimately, all old beds go to charities.”
The bed race turns out to be a long -held wish of many hospital staff. On Saturday it could finally be filled with old beds, because the Amphia replaced about 650 this year. “It is agreement that the beds will be neatly reduced to its original state after the race,” says Claudie Vos who coordinates the bed plan.
Because they still get a second life. Most beds are already being reused in healthcare institutions in Moldova and Tanzania. “In the end they all go to charities. So we still have a nice destination for it,” said Vos.
The bed race is only one part of a series of festivities around the anniversary. Amphia celebrates the 25th anniversary with, among other things, a walking tour full of stories through the hospital, inspiration sessions and a big party for the employees in November.
Crossing with the beds over the parking deck was at least a success. Many beds squeezed and cracked, but made the finish undamaged. “Beautiful”, a participant laughs. “You only experience this once.”
And gone is her team that almost flies out of the corner just before the finish. “Run, run, run! Press that red button! Now!”
25 years of Amphia Hospital
The current Amphia Hospital originated in 2001 from a merger of the Sint Ignatius Hospital, the Interconfessional Hospital De Baronie and the Pasteur Hospital in Oosterhout. The merger builds on a long history of merging of older institutions, such as the Stedelijk Hospital (1867), the Diaconessenhuis (1890), the Sint-Elisabeth Hospital (1894) and the Sint-Laurenshuis (1962).
In 2000 the name Amphia Presented, referring to hospitality and surrounding. The hospital quickly grew into a top clinical hospital and the largest non-academic hospital in the Netherlands.
Since 2019, the main location has been located on the Molengracht. In 2021 the last Breda secondary location (Langendijk) closed. Amphia also has branches in Oosterhout and Etten-Leur.
