Healthcare Facility Design - A Suggested Approach

Healthcare Facility Design - A Suggested Approach; As many facility managers can attest, cobbling together a list of vendors then coordinating a major office installation or makeover can be a logistical and emotional nightmare. Serving as a "general contactor" for such projects puts the manager on the front lines as budgets are overrun, schedules are missed and inevitable changes in plans cause further complications. An all-too-common scenario involves a flurry of finger pointing as various parties parry by passing the blame. Please pass the Advil.

Such was the experience of a Midwest-based network of medical care facilities that services its local communities on an outreach basis. "This organization's mission is to incorporate leading edge technology, innovations, and education into everything it does," says Mark Bassil, co-founder and vice president of MAiSPACE, a Mt. Olive, NJ, based manufacturer of modular office furniture systems "These goals carried through to a 25,000 square-foot ambulatory facility planned to serve northern Chicago suburbs."

Historically, Bassil recounts, the hospital used a diverse group of vendors and tried to coordinate them and their schedules internally: contractors, millwork, cabling, furniture, designers and installers. "They knew they needed a better way," Bassil says. "The purchase had to be 'easy' and the project had to be done quickly. One of the office furniture dealers chosen to bid on the project knew it had cards it could play that might swing the job in its direction. By partnering with MAiSPACE in a joint venture, the dealer was able to streamline the purchasing process by bundling all the product and services required into an all 'all-in-one' package."

This was not the typical office cube job, Bassil reports. The facility 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 aesthetic," he says. "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."

Looking Deeper

While there is no lack of suppliers of modular office furniture systems, MAiSPACE is one that can provide superior quality systems at price points as much as 40% below those of the nation's older vendors. "When we established in 1993, we took a new approach to the modular concept and because of that are not saddled with outdated manufacturing processes characteristic of the 'established' companies," Bassil points out. "This applies as well to our cabling system that not only speeds installations but also easily accommodates the moves, adds and changes (MACs) characteristic of today's workplace environment."

Bringing data to the workspace is crucial in all industries, and healthcare is no exception. The MAiSPACE zone distribution system includes plug-and-play connectors, lay-in cabling and the largest cable capacity in the industry. With a 4-Circuit, 8-Wire system, it supports any network or power requirements needed by customers today, but is designed to grow and change with business. "Managing voice, data, and power cabling is a snap with MAiSPACE because cable runs are laid in behind lift-off panel segments, not bundled and fished through structural elements," Bassil says. "Office reconfiguration time is reduced from days to hours without disrupting the entire network."

Nor is a lower price indicative of lower quality. From a construction standpoint, the MAiSPACE product starts with a 3 _ inch wide frame constructed of 16-gauge cold-rolled steel to provide strength and rigidity, allowing it to remain distortion-free during installation and later MACs.

"That strength also means the load-bearing panel frames can be used to build walls from 30 inches to 14 feet in height," Bassil says. "Panel height can be increased without removing existing panel frames or disturbing power, voice and data cabling, another pillar in the MAiSPACE value proposition in terms of reduced product and labor costs."

Knockdown and ready-to-assemble (RTA) framing components equipped with self-leveling connections simplified moving elements into and throughout the building, reducing assembly costs and the number of framing components required. "For example," explains Bassil, "only two horizontal sub-assemblies plus two shared vertical uprights are required to support panel frames up to 8 feet wide. Frames can easily be added to or removed from runs without disturbing adjacent structures. These features," he says, "will be much appreciated when and if the healthcare facility needs to reconfigure its layout to accommodate changes in its services."

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.