Healthcare projects are some of the most complex buildings to plan and manage, demanding specialised knowledge and skills, and strong technical capability. The challenges facing healthcare providers include increasing competition between healthcare facilities, the rising expectations of patients for high standards of comfort and convenience, state-of-the-art medical technology and, above all, the financial pressures involved in building and operating healthcare facilities. Healthcare providers must also adhere to numerous, complex rules and regulations that set guidelines and expectations for quality, finance, hygiene, legal issues, staffing and overall care delivery.
Long Experience of Project Management for Healthcare
As specialists in project management for healthcare, we have a broad experience in overcoming the many complex demands of delivering healthcare facilities. From strategic consulting in the earliest concept stages, through planning, design and procurement, to construction and project delivery, we support our clients in the realisation of a wide range of healthcare projects including hospitals, nursing homes, medical centres and laboratories.
Our input to a healthcare project frequently begins with supporting our clients through the process of securing funding and establishing the appropriate financial model, such as a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement. We know that to derive the greatest benefit from the available finance the project must be optimised, which means allocating exactly the right amount of space to wards, operating theatres, diagnostic suites, public areas and other facilities to design the most cost-efficient arrangement. We ensure financial control throughout the planning phases by validating our calculations against the benchmark of our extensive database of previous projects.
Quality and Efficiency
Quality control is a major part of our role as project managers and we consider all opportunities for efficiency from the project’s inception. This includes ensuring that the architectural and engineering designs are aligned to the budgetary and functional goals of the project. Projects, such as the new, government-funded perinatal centre at Klinikum Mönchengladbach in Germany demonstrate the value of working closely with the whole project team to maintain the required quality standards. Our cost-efficient and sustainable solutions combined with stringent cost-management measures resulted in a much-needed clinic for preterm infants and their mothers, delivered on time and budget.
Infection Control
The Klinikum Mönchengladbach project also called for the highest hygiene standards. With MRSA infections in hospitals on the increase, we keep up to date with the latest findings on cleaning and sterilisation as well as on prevention and control in our spatial planning and the planning of operational procedures.
Where hospitals are being rebuilt, extended, or refurbished to serve growing demand for their services and accommodate new technologies, one of the greatest challenges is to manage construction on a working hospital campus. We developed an advanced approach to site logistics for a new-build 724-bed hospital, Klinikum Offenbach, near Frankfurt am Main in Germany, on the site of an existing, functioning hospital. A phased construction schedule allowed the hospital to continue functioning, with facilities only being demolished once their replacements became available.
Designing a Sustainable Future
We aim to assure the longevity of every project and consider the entire building life-cycle, from construction to operation as well as possible reuse. From outset we consult with all specialists, including the building physicists, to work towards a successful, long-term outcome. Our future-ready solutions include steps to minimise energy consumption and introduce renewables where appropriate, flexibility to allow for changes in the use of space, and clinical facilities with the designed-in potential to be adapted for future technologies.
