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Page 16 — Health Care Properties Quarterly — July 2017
Construction
4582 South Ulster Street, Suite 1500
Denver, Colorado 80237 303.228.2300
SERVICES
Land Development
Retail
Single-Family
Multifamily
Aviation
Energy Services
Office/Campus
Stormwater
Data Centers
Traffic
Roadway
Infrastructure
Industrial
Build-to-Suit
Landscape Design
Healthcare Specific
Kimley-Horn excels in the overall project
development process to make our
Healthcare Clients successful.
We offer expert services during all phases
of healthcare projects.
Planning
Initial evaluations of infrastructure, access,
stormwater, and parking with their associated costs
are critical elements of the planning process. Our
engineers provide solid input and collaborate with the
project team to set projects up for success.
Documentation
Our engineers and planners develop solid
documentation of the design and construction work
anticipated for the project and deliver on timelines
that are often unmatched. We take deep pride in
making our clients successful.
Field Services
We provide oversight of contractor work and
clarifications to address unforeseen conditions to
keep pace with the progression of construction. We
stay involved through all phases of the project to
deliver a consistent, quality experience.
FORTUNE
M A G A Z I N E ’ S
WE ARE
ONE OF COMPANIES
TO WORK FOR
W hile we can make numer-
ous assumptions, no one
really knows what the
repeal of the Affordable
Care Act will mean for the
future of the United States health
care do know that hospi-
tals are watching their budgets more
than ever. It’s an uncertain time, but
one factor is certain: Contractors have
the opportunity to be an invaluable
partner to health care clients by being
knowledgeable, resourceful, compe-
tent and predictable partners.
Contractors can help ensure long-
term relationships with health care
clients by demonstrating knowledge
and resourcefulness of research and
trends in health care design and con-
struction.
The Joint Commission Resources
organization is a leader in research-
ing and defining current and future
trends in the health care industry.
JCR, which regularly updates the
Planning, Design, and Construction
of Health Care Facilities publication,
notes the strong link between the
design of health care settings and
outcomes experienced by patients,
staff and families. Specifically, the
design of hospitals contributes
to medical errors that affect both
patients and staff, including falls and
infection, as well as slowed patient
recovery time and high nurse turn-
over.
According to JCR, “Well-designed,
supportive health care environments
can not only prevent harm and injury
but also provide psychological sup-
port and aid the healing process.
It has now become imperative to
rethink facility design as a critical ele-
ment in bringing
about change in the
way health care is
provided and expe-
rienced in health
care settings.”
Contractors, act-
ing as trusted part-
ners to their health
care clients, play
a crucial role in
understanding the
connection between
health care design
and patient/staff
outcomes, and uti-
lizing that under-
standing to guide their health care
clients through design and construc-
tion.
Further, health care institutions
increasingly rely on lean operations
methods to reduce waste and improve
the quality of the patient and staff
experience, thereby improving quality
and helping to reduce costs. Examples
include integrating clinical delivery
of care to shared and open spaces,
as well as incorporating mobile tech-
nologies throughout the facility. To be
resourceful and efficient partners to
our health care clients, it’s important
for design and construction teams to
be knowledgeable of lean operating
processes and incorporate them into
project design and construction work.
Health care facilities rely on their
contracting teams to be competent in
common health care practices, includ-
ing infection-control, safety precau-
tions and daily operational activities.
The construction teammust have
experience working inside a hospital
environment. Mistakes on the con-
struction site can cause delays, have
dastardly health issues, be detrimen-
tal to finances and destroy a reputa-
tion.
More than 50 percent of all common
mold-related hospital acquired infec-
tions are caused by maintenance or
construction-related work, according
to the Infection Control University
organization. To reduce the over-
whelming number of HAIs that occur
annually, the Centers for Disease Con-
trol and Prevention recommends that
all personnel working in a health care
facility have infection control training
and follow proper protocols.
During this unfortunate age of
active shooters and similar life-safety
concerns, construction firms also
must be acutely aware of the specific
badging procedures of each health
care client. All contractor person-
nel on the jobsite should be badged,
familiar with the facility and facilities
management staff, and maintain good
working relationships with construc-
tion and hospital teams.
Demonstrating competency and
efficiency also includes being help-
ful to our clients during project down
time. For example, if the construction
crew needs to wait three hours on a
particular conference room to be open
and available for construction work to
begin, the crew can offer themselves
as resources to facilities management
for appropriate small project needs.
Critical knowledge needed for con-
tractor teams to be trusted partners to
health care clients includes: thorough
understanding of the health care
facility, its operating guidelines, the
standards for clean working environ-
ments, project timelines, short- and
long-term goals for the client and
hospital daily operation hours, cog-
nizance of noise, indoor/outdoor foot
and vehicle traffic, and parking needs
for patients and families.
By being a competent partner, con-
tractors establish ourselves as trusted
resources to our health care clients.
They choose to work with us time and
again because they know what they
are getting – predictable, competent
and efficient construction. s
Brian Mulnix
Business
development,
Catamount
Constructors Inc.,
Denver
Contractors, acting as trusted
partners to their health care clients,
play a crucial role in understanding
the connection between health care
design and patient/staff outcomes.