Hospital entrance doors open thousands of times a day for patients, visitors, porters with beds and wheelchairs, and paramedics in a hurry. They must open without being touched, give a wide clear passage, keep the building clean and cool, and never stop working. MC Automations, the parent company of Coetz™, supplies, installs and services automatic doors in South African hospitals, including the ward and theatre doors at Life Wilgeheuwel Hospital, and Coetz™ makes the aluminium and glass frontages they sit in.
This guide explains which door type suits each part of a hospital, the sizes to plan for, what they cost and how to keep them running. For the frontage of a clinic, pharmacy or day hospital, see our page on clinic shopfronts.
In this guide
What hospital entrance doors must do
- Hands-free: nobody should have to push or pull a handle. Automatic doors cut the number of surfaces people touch and let staff with full hands walk straight through.
- Wide clear opening: beds, trolleys, wheelchairs, walking frames and prams all pass through the main entrance.
- Reliable: a stuck entrance is a serious problem in a hospital. Battery backup and a service plan keep the doors working.
- Safe: safety sensors stop the leaves closing on someone who is slow to pass, and safety glass holds together if broken.
- Easy to clean: smooth glass and powder-coated aluminium wipe down quickly.
- Controlled: the doors can be locked, held open or set to exit-only, depending on the time of day.
Types of hospital entrance doors
Automatic sliding doors
The main entrance, casualty and outpatient doors of most hospitals are automatic sliding doors, usually bi-parting so two leaves open from the centre. They need no swing space, open fast and close behind people to keep the air-conditioning in. The MC-125 automatic sliding door system is R27 590 excluding VAT, with sensors, remotes, battery backup and an electric lock, for openings 1 600 to 6 000 mm wide and 1 800 to 3 500 mm high.
Automatic swing doors
Corridors, wards and smaller entrances often keep hinged doors, which can be automated with the MCW-100 automatic swing door operator, from R15 900 excluding VAT. It opens on a sensor, a push button or an access card, and suits double doors on ward corridors that porters push beds through all day.
Hermetic sliding doors
Operating theatres, isolation rooms and clean rooms need doors that seal tightly to keep the pressure and the air quality inside. Hermetic sliding doors press against their seals when they close. MC Automations installs them in hospitals, and they are quoted per project. See our hospital automatic doors project at Life Wilgeheuwel.
Pivot and hinged doors
Staff entrances, stores and service doors that do not need automation can use aluminium hinged doors or pivot doors. Pivot doors, from R10 494 excluding VAT, open smoothly with a light push even when the leaf is wide; hinged doors can be automated later with a swing operator.
Which door goes where
| Area | Suggested door | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Main entrance | Bi-parting automatic sliding | Constant traffic, beds and wheelchairs |
| Casualty and emergency | Wide automatic sliding | Fast, hands-free access for stretchers |
| Ward corridors | Automatic swing doors | Keeps existing hinged doors, hands-free |
| Theatres and isolation | Hermetic sliding doors | Seals tight to control the air |
| Pharmacy and outpatients | Automatic sliding in a shopfront | Public access, secure after hours |
| Staff and service | Hinged or pivot doors | Light traffic, simple and robust |
Sizes to plan for
Size the opening to the largest thing that has to pass through it, not to the average visitor. A hospital bed with a porter on each side, or two wheelchairs passing, needs far more room than a person walking. That is why main hospital entrance doors are usually wide bi-parting sliding doors: a 2 400 to 3 000 mm opening is common at a main entrance, with a narrower door at a side entrance. The MC-125 handles openings from 1 600 to 6 000 mm wide.
Allow height for the operator header above the door, keep the floor level across the threshold so beds and wheelchairs roll through, and leave room either side of a sliding door for the leaves to park when open. Building access rules in South Africa are set in SANS 10400-S, and where safety glass is required is set in SANS 10400-N; both are published by the SABS.
Hospital entrance doors cost
The cost of hospital entrance doors is the operator, the frontage or doors it drives, and the installation.
- MC-125 automatic sliding door system: R27 590 excluding VAT for the operator with sensors, remotes, battery backup and electric lock.
- MCW-100 automatic swing door operator: from R15 900 excluding VAT per door.
- Aluminium and glass frontage: priced per square metre in the online estimator, for example 4 000 × 2 400 mm around an MC-125 door comes to R17 763 for the frame and glass, R45 353 with the operator, excluding VAT.
- Hermetic doors and frameless glass: quoted per project.
- Installation: quoted by MC Automations after a site measure.
Sensors and safety
Automatic hospital entrance doors need two kinds of sensor: a motion sensor that opens the door as someone approaches, and a safety sensor that stops the leaves closing while someone is in the opening. In a hospital the safety sensing matters more than anywhere else, because patients move slowly and staff push long beds through. MC Automations sets the opening speed, the hold-open time and the sensor fields to suit each door, so a slow walker is never caught. See automatic door sensor types and automatic door safety.
Infection control
Hands-free doors are one of the simplest ways to cut the spread of germs in a hospital, because the door handle is one of the most touched surfaces in any building. Beyond automation, choose smooth glass and powder-coated frames with no ledges where dust collects, and keep the floor guides and tracks clean so they do not trap dirt. Hermetic doors in theatres seal the room as well, which helps keep the air clean where it matters most.
Load shedding and power failures
The MC-125 includes battery backup, so hospital entrance doors keep opening when the power goes off, which matters in a country with load shedding. Tell MC Automations how each entrance must behave in a long outage, and they set the door up to suit. Plan the power supply to the door header at the design stage; it is much harder to add afterwards, and a dedicated circuit keeps the door clear of other equipment.
Day and night modes
Hospital entrance doors rarely work the same way all day. During visiting hours the main entrance runs fully automatic in both directions. At night it can switch to exit-only, so people inside can leave but visitors must be let in by security, or it can lock completely while casualty stays open. MC Automations sets up the operating modes for each entrance, and the MC-125 electric lock secures the leaves when the door is locked. Swing doors on wards can be linked to card readers or push buttons so only staff open them after hours.
Planning hospital entrance doors in a new building
- Mark every door on the plans with its type, opening width and who uses it.
- Size main and casualty doors for beds and stretchers, not for people walking.
- Allow the header height and the parking space for sliding leaves either side.
- Bring power to every automatic door header, on its own circuit.
- Decide on access control and night modes early, so the wiring goes in once.
- Include a six-monthly service plan in the building budget from day one.
Servicing and maintenance
Hospital entrance doors work harder than almost any others, so service them every six months. MC Automations checks the drive, the belt, the rollers, the sensors and the lock, and adjusts the door so it opens and closes smoothly. Automatic operators carry a 24-month warranty on the operator. Spares such as sensors, motors and control boards are held in stock, and MC Automations offers call-outs if a door fails between services. See automatic door maintenance and automatic door service contracts.
Upgrading old hospital entrance doors
Many hospitals still have heavy manual doors or old automatic doors that have become unreliable. A hinged door that is in good condition can often be automated with a swing operator without changing the door. A worn-out entrance is better replaced with a new aluminium frontage and an automatic sliding door, which gives a wider, cleaner opening. MC Automations measures the opening, checks the structure and the power, and quotes the work so it can be done with as little disruption to the hospital as possible.
Where we work
MC Automations installs hospital entrance doors across Gauteng and quotes projects elsewhere in South Africa per project. For the full range of hospital products see automatic doors for hospitals and aluminium windows for hospitals. For other building types, see commercial shopfronts and retail shopfronts.
Hospital entrance doors: frequently asked questions
What type of door is used at hospital entrances?
Most main hospital entrance doors are bi-parting automatic sliding doors. Wards use automatic swing doors, and theatres use hermetic sliding doors.
How wide should a hospital entrance door be?
Wide enough for a bed with porters on both sides or two wheelchairs passing. A 2 400 to 3 000 mm bi-parting opening is common at a main entrance; the MC-125 handles 1 600 to 6 000 mm.
How much do hospital entrance doors cost?
The MC-125 automatic sliding door system is R27 590 excluding VAT and the MCW-100 swing operator starts at R15 900 excluding VAT. The frontage and installation are quoted separately.
Do automatic hospital doors work during load shedding?
The MC-125 includes battery backup, so it keeps working through a power cut.
How often should hospital doors be serviced?
Every six months. MC Automations services the doors and holds the spares.
Who installs hospital entrance doors?
MC Automations, the parent company of Coetz™, supplies, installs and services them.
Coetz™, Unit 2, 84 Ridge Road, Laser Park, Johannesburg. Call 010 412 0062, WhatsApp 076 613 4418 or use our contact page.
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