Summit helps to connect the dots in health care design

Motivational Speaker Brad Montgomery speaking to PDC Summit attendees on the importance of developing people-centered skills

Photo courtesy of ASHE

Read our recaps of Days 2 and 3 of the PDC Summit.

More than 3,600 professionals have gathered for the International Summit & Exhibition on Health Facility Planning, Design & Construction (PDC Summit), which kicked off this morning in Phoenix with a focus on collaboration. This year’s theme of “Connect the Dots” was integrated into keynote and breakout sessions as speakers emphasized the need for cooperation between various health care disciplines to achieve the best patient outcomes.

American Society for Health Care Engineering (ASHE) President Dean Pufahl, CHFM, CHC, who is also director of facilities services at Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin, began this morning’s general session by reminding attendees that “this conference is a great chance to grow personally and professionally,” as organizations address changes in the health care field to create a path forward.

Randy Regier, president of Taylor Design, continued the theme of teamwork as he announced ASHE’s 2019 Vista Award winners. The Vista Award for new construction was presented to UC San Diego Jacobs Medical Center. UMass Memorial Health Care won the renovation category for its MC 2020 Memorial Campus Refresh, while Lancaster General Hospital took home the infrastructure award for its new energy center. The awards recognize significant collaboration in creating optimal health care environments. Each winning team has exemplified outstanding teamwork in all stages of their respective health care projects, from pre-planning to the final reveal.

Motivational speaker Brad Montgomery delivered this morning’s keynote address titled “Embrace Your Awesomeness.” Montgomery challenged attendees to combine their technical competencies within the health care field with people-centered skills by focusing on encouragement, acknowledgement and respect of staff and peers. One key to doing this, he says, is to celebrate small victories on the journey to true progress.

“Your words and your actions matter,” he said. “You are able to create positive change in every person you meet.”

The general session was followed by a series of breakout sessions with presentations and discussions on topics such as using collaborative research to solve problems, achieving LEED Platinum and overcoming catastrophic events.

In one session, “Re-Thinking the Clinic: Optimizing the Outpatient Environment,” three panelists walked through a project to consolidate multiple specialty practices into one new facility.

Steve Jacobson, AIA, ACHA, LSSGB, LEED AP, principal and executive vice president, HKS Inc.; Camilla Moretti, AIA, ACHA, vice president, HKS Inc.; and Patty Modrowski, R.N., vice president of operations, ProMedica Health System, talked about the extensive research and collaboration that was necessary to build the 230,000-square-foot ProMedica Health and Wellness Center in Sylvania, Ohio.

Moretti says the project, which consolidated 11 practices from six different buildings into one facility, was informed by a data-driven process. But not only that, it was also developed with the input of representative physicians from each group.

“We didn’t meet separately because we didn’t want separate solutions,” Moretti says. “We wanted a solution that worked for everyone.”

The collaborative, data-driven process helped the team to build flexibility into the space. One of the results is the center’s load leveling model which allows one practice to utilize space from another practice while it’s unoccupied. HKS also designed standard modules, a centralized registration, and a combined lab and imaging space.

Modrowski says the optimized spatial layout has allowed the system to maximize throughput and clearly identify opportunities for better utilization. Since its completion, Promedica was able to add two more practices at zero cost.

Check back tomorrow for coverage of Day 2 at the PDC Summit.