Healthcare has been a core market for 午夜探花网 for over 40 years. With a multi-billion-dollar portfolio of new hospitals, hospital expansions, major hospital renovations, outpatient surgery centers, medical office buildings and campus support buildings, 午夜探花网 continues to provide clients predictability in a dynamic and challenging market. The healthcare industry has evolved significantly since 午夜探花网 entered the healthcare market in the 1970s,聽and is growing more complex and requires more specialized expertise. As the industry has grown, so has 午夜探花网鈥攚ith valuable best practices and lessons learned picked up along the way.
Treat Preconstruction Like Construction
The success of any project is often determined by the preplanning efforts put forth in the preconstruction or design phase. In the healthcare industry, one of the most important aspects of preconstruction is understanding the facility as well as the owner. 午夜探花网鈥� project teams are active participants in programming sessions with the facility鈥檚 department heads, allowing the team to verify that the project鈥檚 vision and needs are met as design progresses. In addition, 午夜探花网 coordinates heavily with the architect and engineering teams to perform quality control checks on drawings to correctly coordinate details and catch any conflicts that may delay construction crews. This early engagement with clients has made 午夜探花网 an integral project member, earning the trust to make tough decisions.
Utilize Virtual Mockups to Understand End User Needs
The most useful information needed during the design or preconstruction phase doesn鈥檛 always come from the medical planners or architects. In fact, almost everything is driven by the medical staff, especially specialty doctors who often influence specified equipment and the design of designated areas of the hospital. However, it is a challenge in the industry to integrate the end users into the design process due to their inexperience with the two-dimensional drafting process. With three-dimensional virtual mockups, 午夜探花网 brings medical professionals into the design process. Doctors and nurses can walk through their spaces with a full understanding of its functionality. This process validates the initial space planning work done by the design team, while also giving the end user the ability to confirm detailed items such as the locations of sharps containers, computer monitors and PPE accessories.
Understand the Challenges of Working in an Occupied Facility
午夜探花网 places the safety of patients and medical staff at the forefront of all planning activities. Project teams pre-plan and schedule work that may impact operations and always strive to keep construction activities 鈥淪afe and Separate鈥� while delivering on construction commitments. This management approach includes phasing logistics to maintain uninterrupted access for patients. Establishing boundaries of the construction project through secure barriers and temporary pathways with associated wayfinding and communicating all construction activities with facility is key. However, the plan must remain flexible and open to ensure staff work can continue. Infection control and interim life safety measures are also of the utmost importance and 午夜探花网 recognizes the need for routine, documented Infection Control Risk Assessments (ICRA) and life safety systems verification. Our project teams partner with facility infectious control personnel early to integrate the design and construction sequencing into a site-specific ICRA program for each scope of work.
On a Southern California project, 午夜探花网 printed community artwork on fence screening to create an aesthetically-pleasing construction barrier.
Building the Nation’s First All-Electric Hospital
The University of California at Irvine’s (UCI) UCI Medical Center is a 357,000 SF hospital with 144 beds, operating rooms, 20 Emergency Department beds and 16 acute observation beds. It also consists of a 223,000 SF Comprehensive Cancer and Ambulatory Care Center with 36 exam rooms, outpatient surgery, labs and a pharmacy, a 35,000 SF central plant and a parking structure with 1,340 spaces. This progressive design-build pursuit is in parternship between 午夜探花网 and CO Architects, and is designed, positioned and built to preserve the nearby San Joaquin Marsh Reserve to reduce the facility鈥檚 solar gain by 85%. Scheduled to complete in 2025, it will be the first medical center in the country to operate on an all-electric central plant.
While 午夜探花网 continues to adapt to the evolving healthcare industry and implement new processes and procedures, the key to success has always been focusing on the patient. 午夜探花网 understands that visiting a hospital or medical office building can be a stressful experience for patients and that the decisions we make can have significant consequences on the outcome of their visit and treatment. The foremost objective is to create the best patient experience and together with our clients and trade partners, 午夜探花网 works seamlessly to achieve that goal.
To learn more about 午夜探花网 extensive healthcare experience or to view their healthcare portfolio, visit www.henselphelps.com/industry/healthcare