Reason #1: Save Time
6 Important Considerations When Planning A Hospital Or Clinical Care Unit Move
This is the first of a six-part series on how having an external expert as your partner can make the entire process of moving or renovating your clinical space easier from start to finish. As you’ll learn, a move manger is not a moving company -it’s much, much more.
By Fina Santiago, Vice President
In this series, we’ll discuss some of the common issues and considerations a hospital or clinical care unit experience when transitioning to a new space. Even a small one. From managing details, stakeholders, and construction time, to communication and to minimizing stress, this series offers informative suggestions to make your hospital or health care unit move a smooth and successful transition.
Reason #1: You’ll save time.
As you may have already experienced, moving or renovating a clinical space, especially in a nonstop-busy hospital, is a massive effort. There are multiple schedules and hundreds of details to consider, plan, coordinate and execute. Above all, patients’ schedules are the prime consideration, because patient care always comes first, no matter what project may be happening. And because no area stays empty in a hospital or treatment center, once one unit is finished and patients are moved, the renovation work begins in the vacated area. I should note that the same is true for any administrative or office space within a clinical environment.
But “fast” is not what a good move is about from the clinical aspect. It’s all about meticulous planning, schedules and timing, and making sure nothing gets in the way of patient care.
What saves you time when you hire an experienced move manager is in the well thought out planning process and having an expert to supplement your personnel resources, so that your staff can focus on their day jobs, means you will start the project off on the right foot. Let’s face it—everyone already has too much on their plate! Hiring a move manager who understands both the clinical aspects of care, and the construction process involved in your renovation, can remove the anxiety that comes with the moving process.
At Vargas Associates, that means we function as your experienced third party that can bridge those two worlds, starting at the very beginning of the project. A nurse manager and his/her staff speak one “language,” and the internal project manager speaks another because their role within this project is very different. Each has a different focus. A move manager understands both and can “translate” the various concerns to ensure the right outcomes for both sides. “People skills” are essential during this type of project, and those skills are something Vargas Associates excels at, I’m proud to say. That, and our ability to listen and construct a detailed plan for your move. We are good communicators, which means that we’re good listeners.
We listen and learn about your particular project’s critical requirements as they relate to your patients. Whenever we work in a clinical setting, we understand the importance of the nurse manager and staffs needs as well as the needs of the patients in the unit without losing track of the needs of the project (I’ll write more about the sequenced clockwork involved in an actual move we did for a neonatal move in a later post.)
Naturally, the plan we develop takes into account all the steps involved in the actual move. Our overall planning process encompasses much more, everything from taking an inventory of existing furniture and equipment and the bidding and procurement process for the new items needed. We develop an occupancy schedule that assigns tasks to internal and external stakeholders to help drive the actions needed to complete a timely and successful project. In between all this, we’re also interfacing with the assigned project manager, department contact, IT and your construction teams to help you avoid any issues and stay on your timeline. It’s enough to make your head spin, right? Imagine how much time it would take for your own staff to handle this type of project. That’s how we can save you time and you can benefit by having an experienced move manager on your project.
At Vargas Associates, we’ve completed numerous projects in hospitals and clinical settings, and we know the ropes. We’ll help you each step of the way. And another plus: by contracting with an external move manager, you won’t carry unnecessary overhead costs when your move is over.
In my next post, I’ll talk about how we can help your contractors maximize their construction days. Again, so much of it is about all planning and preparation. Thanks for reading! I hope you’ll come back here again soon for reason #2 to hire a move manager. If you have any comments or questions, feel free to get in touch with us.
