Healthcare Design Workspace

By Author: Larry Tang
Total Articles: 512
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When Sherman Health, one of largest networks of medical care facilities in the far Northwest suburbs of Chicago, was constructing a 25K sq. ft. Ambulatory Care Facility, it had three main goals: to help service the community on a local outreach basis, to provide excellent healthcare services, and to stay within budget while still achieving the latter objectives.

Historically, the hospital used a diverse group of vendors and tried to coordinate them and their schedules internally: contractors, millworkers, cabling, furniture, designers and installers, they knew they needed a better way. In preliminary meetings, hospital officials said the purchase had to be easy and the project had to be done quickly... That is the whole facility needed to be designed and built in less than six months.

Sherman Health Systems has a self-proclaimed mission to incorporate leading edge technology, innovations, and education into everything they do. Their goals for this new facility needed to illustrate that. When Rieke Office Interiors in Elgin, Illinois became one of the office furniture dealers chosen to bid on the project, Chris ...
... Matus, President of the company, knew instinctively, he had the right solutions to whatever issues the facility would arise.

Matus was aware of the fact that the fast-paced and critical nature of healthcare requires a facility design that works for patients, staff, and families. It would also require the strategic selection of equipment and products that facilitates effective care giving. Providing greater efficiency in patterns of healthcare would certainly help caregivers deliver high performance patient care.

Beyond their primary mission of providing quality healthcare, hospitals must comply with government regulators', payers' and other stakeholders' ever-growing administrative requirements. According to American Hospital Association's (AHA) recent findings, such activities are increasingly diverting precious resources away from patient care and contribute to making health care less affordable.

In addition, changes in the way healthcare is delivered in the United States, including the switch to prospective payments systems, the need to replace outdated facilities, the aging of the baby-boom generation, and higher patient expectations for privacy, safety and quality healthcare puts pressure on hospitals and healthcare facilities.

According to the AHA's 2007 survey, hospital capacity is becoming the most pressing issue. For instance, healthcare analysts predict that the U.S. will require 18 percent more acute-care beds by 2012. The urgent need to expand capacity in the healthcare sector requires hospitals to take precautionary measures and initiate intensive improvement efforts.

Whether the question surrounding hospitals is replacement of outdated facilities or renovation, the answers involve both controlling costs and improving healthcare. For instance, according to David Carpenter, 61 percent of executives at hospitals and 79 percent at health systems reported that improving operational efficiency and patient flow are major factors in their decisions about facilities. Although it is not always viewed in this way, according to Sarita Chand, the hospital is indeed a business entity that needs to use its most valuable resource - its staff - in the most efficient and productive ways possible to serve its customers; the patients. Thus, healthcare facilities must be designed not only based on current trends and needs but tomorrow's expectations as well.

When embarking on a substantial healthcare project for the Sherman Health, Rieke Office Interiors knew all the challenges facing the American Healthcare Industry, they were also aware of the specific needs of a healthcare facility. As Matus noted, this was not the typical office cube job. The facility's needs included 2 nurse staging centers, exam rooms, and a modular and private interview area. These task-specific areas dictated the need for considerable product flexibility as well as a beautiful and high-end aesthetics.

The versatility of the MAiSPACE product with its floor to ceiling capabilities, plug and play cabling and wide variety of cost effective finish options, eliminated the need for custom build outs, complex wiring systems and expensive design fees. The project was installed and operational within 90 days, exceeding the client's expectations and was well within budget at only $21 per square foot, installed. In the end ROI was able to streamline the purchasing process by bundling all the products and services required into an "all-in-one" package.

We love it!" says Sherman Hospital President, Rick Floyd. At the opening ceremonies, he pointed out how the elegant appearance and the innovative product design was the perfect fit for their image and mission. "It's the new look of Sherman Health," he said. And with a large new health care complex currently under construction and due to open in late 2009, Matus feels Rieke and MAiSPACE are in a great position to capitalize on this project's success., "By partnering with MAiSPACE and making use of their services in addition to our own resources, we were able to create a seamless process and a beautiful end result. We couldn't have had a better experience."
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