VHES DESCENDS ON SOUTH BURLINGTON
March 12, 2012
March 7, 2012
Project Superintendent Alan Lewis talks with a care provider just outside the construction zone on Fletcher Allen Health Care’s Baird 4 Med/Surg floor. The project is moving forward on schedule with great interaction between the clinical care team and PC’s TEAM HEALTH CARE.
February 17, 2012
Please Save the Date! PC Construction is pleased to host the Spring 2011 quarterly meeting of the Vermont Healthcare Engineers Society (VHES) on Friday, March 9 at our corporate office located on Tilley Drive in South Burlington. Continue Reading →
February 14, 2012
PC Construction’s Eve Norris has earned the designation of Certified Healthcare Constructor (CHC) by the American Hospital Association. This accomplishment was highlighted with a feature story in a recent New England Healthcare Engineers Society (NEHES) newsletter.
When asked why she pursued CHC certification, Eve stated, “I have consistently challenged myself to take advantage of all educational opportunities that enable me to stay current in the construction industry at large, and additionally those that are specific to health care. Taking the CHC exam was a personal challenge as well as a confirmation of my experience in health care. This certification makes me an even stronger asset on PC’s resume when pursuing new work.”
Eve is currently a PC Project Executive focusing on the health care market.
Eve Norris on the site of a recent hospital addition project
November 18, 2011
PC Construction began work on the Concord Hospital Surgical Center Renovation project this summer. The $8.6 million project consists of three phases. The first phase includes additions with two new inpatient operating rooms, two new outpatient operating rooms, and a loading dock. The second phase involves the renovation of their entire post-anesthesia care unit (PACU) and Pre/Post Operation area including two additional operating rooms. The third and final phase is a small renovation for staff support and a waiting area. The total project duration is 18 months.
The most challenging aspect of this project involves replacing the existing loading dock with a new three-story dock in the exact same location without compromising its 24-hour-a-day, 7-day-a-week operation. Some of this was handled with the construction of a temporary dock and daily coordination with construction equipment and hospital supplies coming and going. In addition, the expansion is constructed adjacent to their existing operating rooms so much of the work has to occur during second shift hours to minimize disruption to procedures.
This is a very exciting and challenging project. Close coordination and constant communication with the great staff at Concord Hospital helped get the project off to a successful start.
February 16, 2011
The Maine Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) hosted its quarterly meeting in Saco, Maine last week. The theme was “Matching Master Facility Planning to Hospital Strategic Planning – Looking Ahead for Best Practices.” Paul Stevens, SMPS Board Member and Principal of SMRT Architects, organized the event and asked me to moderate the panel discussion. Continue Reading →
February 1, 2011
January 21, 2011
January 17, 2011
Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) is an internationally recognized green building certification system that provides a framework for implementing sustainable and “green” design, construction, equipment, and maintenance solutions. Continue Reading →
January 3, 2011
As we look forward to a new year full of construction opportunities, I was heartened to read an article written by Mike Hrickiewicz and published by Health Facilities Management in December 2010.
The article states that “most forecasters expect [hospital] building activity to start moving forward again next year as the push for efficiency and advanced technology drives new capital spending plans.” Anecdotally, we are seeing increased requests for information from Owners and design teams throughout New England, as well as a renewed willingness to have a sales meeting. Though we don’t want to be overly optimistic in our planning, it appears that the health care market in New England has a robust list of capital projects in the planning stages for 2011.
November 12, 2010
The Martin’s Point Veranda Clinic is ready to receive their first patients on Monday, November 15. PC Construction’s Team Health Care spent part of last week helping the Martin’s Point team prepare for every possibility that could occur on opening day. Senior Project Manager Garret Bertolini and Project Superintendent Tim Street were there to help with the fire alarm and power outage tests, Senior Project Engineer Jarred Ballard was on hand to provide construction assistance with zero turnaround time, and I was able to help the clinical leadership teams at Martin’s Point organize their operational plans to better anticipate and problem-solve potential patient and work flow issues. The goal was to practice a variety of scenarios and ultimately enact the ideal patient encounter for opening day.
Throughout the course of the exercise, we identified some issues to address before opening day as well as areas to monitor over the first few weeks of operation. Certain open issues, such as permanent way-finding systems and waiting room configurations are best solved after hearing suggestions by patients and answering their questions.
Through the activation planning process, our team learned how the physical space of a clinic can help meet the goals of the practice. For example, the Patient-Centered Medical Home is a practice in which a team of specialized health professionals is coordinated by a personal physician and works collaboratively to provide high levels of patient education and care coordination to improve the health and wellness of the entire patient population. We now better understand the needs for patient consult space, accessible educational areas, and collaborative space for the care providers because we participated in this exercise.
It was great to have the whole PC construction team on site to take part in activation planning and to see the Clinic from the patient and the provider’s perspectives. The provider’s participation ensures we keep the ultimate client – the patient – in mind with every new health care project.
November 5, 2010
Staff and leadership at Martin’s Point Health Care cut the ribbon on their new state-of-the-art health care facility after many years of planning. The new facility overlooks Casco Bay in Portland, Maine. Family practice, internal medicine, cardiology, and surgery clinics as well as laboratory, pharmacy, and radiology are housed in the three-story, 43,000 square foot facility. Also included are 216 covered parking spaces for patients and staff.
Throughout the dedication ceremony, credit was give to PC Construction and the PC team’s customer service. President and CEO of Martin’s Point Health Care, David Howes, MD singled out Project Superintendent Tim Street as a man worthy of eternal gratitude from the staff and future patients of the clinic. “…Tim never failed to take the time to answer my questions: Why is this like this? Why is this outlet there? And he did it with patience and a sense of humor. He was on site all the time and always ready to help. Thank you, Tim”.
This was a real testament to the customer service our team provided every day during the course of the project which started in October of 2008 with preconstruction. We broke ground in May of 2009.
The success of the project can be credited to several factors:
This was one of the best planned and executed projects I have been involved with in my over 24 years in construction. The project yielded substantial owner savings and was completed ahead of original schedule despite many changes. I am very proud of the project and my team that made it happen.
The Martin's Point Health Care staff and leadership joined together for the ribbon cutting for this new 43,000 square foot facility constructed by PC Construction
October 18, 2010
What did 250 hospital engineers, facility managers, plant operators, and safety professionals have in common earlier this month? They were all at the New England Health Care Engineers’ Society Annual Meeting in Mount Washington, New Hampshire.
The three-day education seminar, technical exhibit, and networking experience exposed us all to innovative new processes for hospital planning, construction, and utilization. There was healthy discussion around the contractual responsibilities of Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) and Building Information Modeling (BIM). There were several sessions that highlighted simulation technology for determining optimal space needs, bed counts, and surgical services. The panelists even ventured beyond planning and construction into operations and regulatory compliance.
PC Construction was pleased to be selected to participate in a panel discussion on best practices in health care construction estimating and the ideal integrated process for preconstruction. The panel included:
Andrew Martin, Vice President, PC Construction
Eve Norris, Senior Project Manager, PC Construction
Ed Seraydarian, Senior Estimator, PC Construction
Dan Morris, Principal, MorrisSwitzer Environments for Health
Scott LeClair, Principal, Fitzemeyer and Tocci Associates
The topic generated some great questions including, “When we [facility directors] are asked by the hospital’s leadership what three things we will gain by spending money on preconstruction services, what would your answer be?” Collectively, the panel was quick to respond that the project will come in on budget, on schedule, and with a program that will maximize capital dollars.
If everyone attending took away that quick lesson then we’ve done our job well.
Representatives from PC Construction, MorrisSwitzer Environments for Health, and Fitzemeyer and Tocci Associates participated in a panel discussion at the recent New England Health Care Engineers' Society Annual Meeting
September 17, 2010
Strategic planners for health care expansion often find themselves in a conundrum – how to plan the program the hospital needs and get an accurate estimate of what it will cost to build it, all BEFORE applying for the Certificate of Need. The scope of the project needs to include all of the necessary health care elements while not giving the staff and potential users unreasonable expectations. So often we see a huge program and a beautiful design that staff is thrilled with, but the cost comes in too late and too high.
This process can be mitigated by bringing the design and construction team on board to work with the hospital staff as early as possible. The design team (most often architects with engineering support) provides the tools to optimize the clinical space and design an aesthetically-pleasing environment. The construction management team takes the early, preliminary design and estimates the cost to build it, often suggesting value engineering options along the way to save money.
The best way to illustrate the ideal process is with a diagram:
We’ll share examples of these best practices at our panel presentation on Monday, October 4 at 9:30 a.m. at the New England Health Care Engineer’s 2010 Conference. Please join us at the presentation or stop by our booth anytime.
September 1, 2010
August 27, 2010
I was honored to be part of a very special event for Canton-Potsdam Hospital – the ground breaking to begin construction on the Hospital’s new cancer center.
This event has been a long time coming. We have been working with MorrisSwitzer Environments for Health and the Hospital’s leadership for just over two years in a process that ultimately resulted in the design, and now the construction, of a new cancer center.
I was moved to hear from the Hospital’s special guest speaker, Jacquelyn Kuno, the Foundation Board Vice Chair and a cancer survivor who received treatment at the Hospital. She spoke of the quality care she received and how eager she was to see a new linear accelerator and facility that will provide technology to match the quality of care provided by the Canton-Potsdam caregivers.
PC Construction is proud to be part of a team that will bring state-of-the art cancer treatment to upstate New York . . . and that’s a very good team to be on!
The groundbreaking ceremony for the new cancer center at Canton-Potsdam Hospital
August 10, 2010
With PC Construction’s $9.5 million Radiation Oncology project at Fletcher Allen Health Care now undergoing the finishing touches, the hospital is anticipating treating their first patients in the new department within the next few weeks. The new facility houses dosimitry and treatment planning, patient exam room space, gendered changing areas, patient registration, and a comfortable waiting room, as well as three new linear accelerator vaults. Continue Reading →
August 2, 2010
PC Construction’s recently-completed Outpatient Surgery Center project at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center opened its doors last month. The new 41,000 square-foot facility houses eight operating rooms, associated support space, public access space, outpatient lab services, and a central sterile processing area.
The complexity of these health care projects, with enhanced regulation and complicated infrastructure, is why this type of construction is so appealing to me. I’ve been working on projects at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center for 23 months and it’s great to see the results of those efforts. People are oohing and ahhing over the new center and it’s gratifying to know we’ve been part of it. It’s been a pleasure working with the DHMC teams at every turn: clinical staff, care providers, facilities, leadership, housekeeping, and beyond.
July 8, 2010
My objective on the Clifton-Fine Hospital Clinic Replacement and Addition project is clear: deliver the highest quality hospital building within budget and on schedule. One particular challenge we have faced is the project schedule with regard to the limited weather window in the North Country. This issue was addressed during the preconstruction process and, as a result, we researched several alternatives to conventional building systems that are typically constructed on-site. After exploring many options, we settled on a precast foundation and prefabricated wall panels since this approach works well for a building of this size and type. To date the results are very positive. Continue Reading →
June 17, 2010
The 42,000 square foot state-of-the-art primary care health center is situated on picturesque Martin’s Point in Portland, Maine, only seventy-five feet from the Atlantic Ocean. After careful negotiations regarding the site and building footprint, the LEED-Registered building design received approval from the Historic Preservation Board of Portland and the Maine Historic Preservation Commission. That process was aided through the use of BIM (Building Information Modeling) to ensure minimal environmental impact, while upgrading the water, drainage, sewer, and teledata infrastructure of the entire campus. Continue Reading →
May 3, 2010
For me, it is very gratifying to see the impact PC Construction can have on enhancing patient care delivery in some of our more rural communities. The resources and health care experience that we can bring to institutions that may not have had a construction project in 10 or 15 years eliminates some of the trepidation for the staff and helps pave the way for a really successful construction process.
In the fall of 2008, the communities of Clifton and Fine in New York woke to the news that the outpatient services building of the Hospital had suffered a fire. Clifton-Fine’s staff was challenged over the next two years with providing care in temporary and less-than-optimal space, without ever compromising the accessibility and compassion of treatment they provided. That hard work was rewarded on Wednesday, April 28, when the Hospital broke ground on their new 10,000 square foot clinic which will house all functions of their primary care service and a variety of diagnostic testing, in addition to serving as the main entrance for the Hospital. The Hospital will begin seeing patients in this new department by the end of this November. Project Manager Matt Cooke and Project Superintendent Tom Freitas participated in the groundbreaking celebration.
Rob Kimes, CEO of Clifton-Fine Hospital is joined by Hospital representatives and town officials for the formal groundbreaking for the Clifton-Fine Hospital Clinic Replacement and Addition project in New York.
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