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Minding the details Additionally, the clinical champion will facilitate collaboration between clinicians and the contractor team. Some of the specific tasks that should be jointly resolved include the input for the location of headwalls, code blue buttons and room layout. Though possibly considered minor details, these decisions greatly impact a clinician's ability to provide quality patient care. Facilitating such collaboration may also eliminate costly change orders down the road. Staff orientation, education and training are also critical components of facility activation planning and should begin early in the preparation process. Organizations will either look to internal education teams or engage a third party consultant to develop a strategy to operationally prepare staff for the new facility. The clinical champion will work closely with an education and orientation task force to oversee this process. Getting hands on as well as supporting services. To successfully manage the patient move, staff will first develop the appropriate move routes for each unit. Before move day, theses routes will be table topped, walked, tested and timed. In addition, units will participate in interdepartmental practices and mock moves. As the hospital prepares to "go live," establishing a command center is critical to the success of the move. The center will monitor the progress of the move by tracking each patient as they are relocated to the new facility. Some organizations will implement a one-day command center and use the patient move process to test existing or updated disaster readiness plans. Other organizations may establish a hybrid model used to monitor the transfer of patients and a work-order system to track all other activation and move-related issues. In either process, the establishment of a strong leadership team to review daily activities and make timely decisions is a key component to achieving success. Facility activation planning is a team effort requiring all hands on deck. From a clinical perspective, the safe, smooth and seamless transition of all patients, families and staff is the ultimate goal. Identifying a clinical champion early in the process fosters clinical ownership that is necessary to develop a comprehensive operational readiness plan, reduce potential change orders to the built environment, effectively communicate and train staff and develop a patient move plan that results in a safe transition into the new facility. The task force will facilitate the development of plans for both facility-wide and departmental training. Some of the facilitywide training includes building tours, acquiring appropriate badge access, parking regulations and identification of all support and family services. Departmental training involves the development of new clinical operational processes and patient flows. Staff will participate in various hands-on exercises, while examining workflows and determining new processes to be implemented in the facility. One exercise, table-top planning, allows the team to evaluate clinical flow patterns in a scaled model of the new facility. Later in construction, the staff will walk through the new building and test expectations of possible new patient and staff flow options. Input from physicians, residents, nursing and support staff will be included in all exercises. This clinically led team will also ensure new equipment and technology training is incorporated into the activation and education schedule. The collaborative and interdepartmental effort will facilitate mapping of the most efficient and safe operational designs and patient-move routes. In addition to developing a comprehensive staff orientation education and training program, the clinical champion As the hospital prepares will work with planning teams to develop a patient move plan. Typically, an organito "go live," establishing a zation will establish a patient relocation command center is critical team to create a plan for safely moving to the success of the move. patients during the transition process. The center will monitor This team will determine, in collaboration with other facility activation teams, the the progress of the move ideal time to relocate patients based on by tracking each patient the organization's unique census, seras they are relocated. vices and seasonal effects. Once a date has been identified, this team will develop the criteria to safely move each patient, www.mcdmag.com Ellyn Roberts, RN, BSN, MBA, is principal consultant at KLMK. With more than 17 years of experience, she utilizes clinical expertise to assist clients in activating and transitioning to new facilities. Roberts can be reached at eroberts@ klmkgroup.com. Rick Hood is vice president for the Midwest Region at KLMK. A leader in large-scale activation and transition projects, he ensures the delivery of facilities that enable superior quality of care and maximum safety. He can be reached at rhood@ klmkgroup.com. January/February 2013 | Medical Construction & Design 25