Planning the Finishing Touches

We are now fewer than 30 days away from finishing construction on the Promise Project’s Louis and Phyllis Friedman Building! This project is the epitome of thoughtful planning and attention to detail. Before we even broke ground on construction in September 2021, cross-functional teams of staff as well as architects were carefully considering how to design the new facilities to best meet the needs of patients, their loved ones, and staff alike.

Now, operational readiness teams, led by Rebecca Stover, MSN, RN, PMP, Director of Project Management at GBMC HealthCare, are shifting focus from building design to the minutiae of details involved in running the building, with the goal of smooth transitions for patients and staff. 

Discerning the various day-to-day needs and most efficient processes necessary to operate two brand new state-of-the-art medicine/telemetry units is no small feat.

The team is exploring and answering numerous questions, including:

• What are our overall staffing needs?
• What quantities of supplies will need to be stocked on the new units?
• How long does it take our environmental services team to clean one room on the new unit? Remember, the rooms are twice the size of those on the previous units and include new features and equipment to learn.
• What are the fastest and safest routes from the units to other key areas of the hospital, like the ICU, in the event of emergencies?

In addition, a very detailed plan related to move-in day on November 14 is underway. This effort is being led by Cate O’Connor-Devlin, MSN, RN, Director of Emergency Preparedness, Safety, and Security, who is collaborating with a cross-functional team of administrative coordinators, nurses, transporters, greeters, and the Incident Command Center. 

This team is using past experience with smaller-scale unit relocations to make decisions and anticipate challenges. They are thinking through the best way to batch patients for transfers, how to prepare for transport based on the complexity of each patient, how long it will take to move a patient from the old unit to the new unit, how to best communicate with patients and families throughout the move, how to support staff and patients as needed throughout the process and troubleshoot issues from simple to complex.

It is exciting to know that the building is almost finished, and I'm also thrilled to share that we are now under 100 days until we welcome our first patients into the building. Stay tuned for more updates as we continue through the process and save the date for the Louis and Phyllis Friedman Building’s Community Grand Opening Celebration on Saturday, November 4 from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. in the new GBMC Atrium! Bring the whole family and celebrate with tours, food, fun, games, and prizes!