PROJECT MANAGEMENT OF HOSPITAL PROJECTS & HEALTH CARE FACILITIES PROJECTS

Characteristics of hospital projects & health care facilities projects

Characteristics of hospital projects & health care facilities projects are complexity, urgency, accuracy and criticality.

Hospital projects & health care facilities projects are typically complex. It is due to the large number of parties involved in the briefing, planning, design and construction of the project, the relationship between the project and its medical context, and the relationship between the various internal parts of the project.

Hospital projects & health care facilities projects are typically urgent. Once a decision is made on the go ahead with a project, it is usually desirable for it to be delivered in a short time frame. This is due to the fact that hospital projects and health care facilities projects normally come into being because of a strong need from the community or as a long awaited expansion of an existing hospital. It is also desirable to have a short project time frame so to minimize any impact due to construction activities on the operation of an existing medical facility.

Hospital projects & health care facilities projects typically demand a high degree of accuracy in execution, including planning, design, construction, fitout and ff&e procurement and installation. Inaccurate planning and design can lead to unusable health facility after completion. Inaccurate construction and fitout can lead to expensive and disruptive rectification after occupation. Inaccurate procurement of ff&e can lead to prolonged construction phase and affect the timing of commissioning a new hospital or health facility.

Hospital projects & health care facilities projects are by their nature critical. The quality of the design, construction and fitout of a new hospital or medical facility can affect the medical team's operation and their delivery of medical service to the public. Above all, safety is the most critical factor. It is very important to assess the impact of a hospital project or health care facilities project on its medical context, eg. the other parts of a hospital, and to make sufficient arrangement to minimize or to mitigate the impacts. It is also important to plan and execute the commissioning of a new hospital or a new health care facility carefully so that the delivery of medical service can be commenced in an orderly and timely manner.

Hospital project manager & health facility project manager's challenges

Hospital project manager & health facility project manager needs to meet the challenge of the above typical characteristics of hospital projects and health facility projects as well as specific issues pertinent to a particular project.

Some of the common specific issues in hospital projects or health facility projects are:

    Access for material, equipment, plant, personnel for the contractor
    Separation of patient and staff traffic from construction traffic
    Minimization of dust, vibration and noise impact on hospital operation, especially patient wards
    Access and location for hoisting, lifting, scaffolding and temporary structure
    Storage space for material, equipment and tools of the contractor
    Storage space for material, equipment and furniture of the hospital
    Disposal of debris and construction waste
    Impact and change to emergency access & egress route
    Impact and change to patient and staff access & egress route
    Impact and change to patient and staff parking, ambulance & other vehicles access & parking
    Re-organization of hospital service location and stages of moving around
    Identification and record of existing building services infrastructure, size, type, location and run
    Integration of new building services with existing, including IT infrastructure
    Planning & scheduling sequence of work, events and relocation of hospital services
    Risk assessment of critical activities and construction work
    Information distribution to staff and patient regarding timing of building work, its impact and risk
    Staged completion, commissioning and use of new facilities and required support services

AAPAC GROUP's professional hospital project managers and health facilities project managers have the skill and experience in managing the above issues and meeting challenges of hospital projects and health facility projects.