The Complexity Of Hospital Construction

Recently, Overwatch Security Advisors was tasked with the upgrade and renovation of numerous hospitals throughout the country. These upgrades are even more important in light of COVID-19 and the stress the pandemic has put on the health care system. This area of construction is different to say the least, a critical difference.

Considering all that has happened in the medical field in the last decade, construction and renovation issues might seem like a secondary concern of hospital administrators and boards of directors. All of the issues, however, including the building, are closely and inextricably related to each other. For instance, how nice for the city or benefactors to approve more beds for the hospital, until someone remembers that increase of space affects something as mundane as parking spaces.

Jay W. Schneider, Senior Editor of the Building Design and Construction Network, wrote an article entitled, “Hospital Additions + Renovations: 14 Lessons from Expert Building Teams.” Drawing from the experience of builders on four different hospital projects, he lays out the pitfalls and advice of those who have “been there, done that.”

The 14 Lessons:

1. 1. Get the heck out of the way.
2. 2. Assume there will be emergencies and plan for them
3. 3. Be prepared for the unknown inside the building.
4. 4. Use a contractor software, but don’t assume it’s a cure-all
5. 5. Know how much noise you’re going to make well before you make it.
6. 6. Communicate, communicate, communicate.
7. 7. Negotiate for any parking spaces and staging areas you can get.
8. 8. Minimize exposure to harmful elements.
9. 9. Understand that no phasing plan is perfect.
10. 10. Expect your work to bother someone, and adjust accordingly.
11. 11. Minimize inconveniences.
12. 12. Make infection control training a top priority.
13. 13. Utilities can’t be shut off, so have a backup plan.
14. 14. Anticipate surprises.

(For a full discussion of these points, see www.bdcnetwork.com/hospital-additions-renovations-14-lessons-expert-building-teams )

Perhaps every area of trade thinks of its area of expertise as being the most needed, the most difficult, or the most (fill in the blank). But hospital construction and renovation can rightly say that about itself. Their work is complex, and if not done correctly, people could die. Almost all of the construction issues in hospital construction and renovation are similarly complex.

The recent and almost unbelievable expansion of the electronic side of medicine has created all new issues for hospital construction and renovation. Few if any of the electronic components currently in use operate in a stand-alone fashion, but rather they exist in a fully integrated, centralized profile.

Overwatch Security Advisors has contracted with commercial and medical institutions for installation of CCTV and other low voltage applications. We advise our clients of such pitfalls discussed above and more importantly how to avoid them. Seamless integration is our goal. Let us show you.