Coming together to build excellence

Construction of a new health care facility that meets an organization's needs is a major investment that requires a harmonized approach to planning, design and construction from all stakeholders.

Contractors, designers and owners' representatives must be coordinated through each phase of a project, whether choosing a project delivery model, designing innovative project solutions or addressing regulatory issues. Without this synchronization, there is ample opportunity for complications that can cause delays and increase costs. The International Summit & Exhibition on Health Facility Planning, Design & Construction (PDC) is a point of convergence for those who work together to create new health care facilities, giving them a chance to learn from each other, make valuable business connections and define the future of the health care physical environment.

The 2013 PDC Summit will be held Feb. 24-27 in San Francisco. In preparing for the conference, the planning committee aimed to blend strategic vision with practical tools to offer attendees a lively learning experience. The summit is formatted to follow the natural progression of the PDC process for health facility projects, ending with facility occupancy and operations.

Thus, Monday's programming will provide a high-level, long-term view of the health care industry, delivery of care models and strategic issues related to planning for design and construction projects. Tuesday's focus will be on fresh and innovative approaches to health care facility design and construction. The scope for Wednesday's sessions is operational sustainability practices that provide value to health care organizations.

Summit attendees will hear experts speak on innovation, design and the future of health care; regulatory issues; and the implications and challenges of health care reform.

Presenters include Paul Keckley of the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, who will discuss health care reform with Teri G. Fontenot, president and CEO of Woman's Hospital in Baton Rouge and 2012 chair of the American Hospital Association board of trustees. There will be a comparative discussion CEO panel with Dan Rahn, M.D., chancellor of the University of Arkan­sas for Medical Sciences, and Patrick Muldoon, FACHE, president and CEO, HealthAlliance Hospital, a member of UMass Memorial Health Care.

Closing the PDC will be a plenary session with Harvard physician and well-known author and health care researcher Atul Gawande. In his most recent book, he argues that the use of simple checklists can improve our efforts in many fields — especially health care — in today's complex world.

To see complete programming information for the 2013 PDC Summit, log on to www.pdcsummit.org.

By Patrick J. Andrus, director of business development for ASHE.

ASHE insight

ASHE releases monographs on important facility issues

ASHE recently published three monographs on topics important to health care facilities professionals: managing hospital electrical shutdowns, the physical environment provisions of pharmaceutical compounding, and medical gas cylinder and bulk tank storage. The monographs can be downloaded for free by ASHE members and can be purchased by nonmembers by logging on to www.ashestore.com.

View ASHE programs on YouTube

ASHE has launched a YouTube channel featuring videos on code compliance issues, ASHE initiatives and educational programs. Accessible at www.youtube.com/asheaha, the channel includes videos of experts in the field answering questions on regulations and speaking on topics such as smoke and fire barrier penetration and the differences between various editions.

Energy University classes open

ASHE, in partnership with Schneider Electric, recently rolled out Schneider's Energy University to ASHE members. To help guide members to the information that is most useful, ASHE has identified specific courses beneficial for health care facilities managers, energy managers and technicians. For more information, visit www.ashe.org.