Starting a hospital renovation or construction project can be demanding and burdensome for health professionals and patients. Since they’re the ones who’ll deal with the process and benefit from the results, they’re the people who are concerned the most. In short, those people will have to sacrifice their time and make adjustments while construction is ongoing.
As we all know, people go to hospitals for care and treatment. The last thing patients would want is a noisy, messy, and unsafe environment. Unfortunately, maintaining such an environment during hospital construction can be challenging. Construction and renovations often cause obstructions and delays in the hospital.
But even though that’s the case, hospitals undergo construction to provide better services. Those services will undoubtedly benefit patients and health workers threefold in the long run. But as people say, you’ll have to go through the process first before enjoying the benefits.
With that, hospitals need to make extra effort to maintain a conducive atmosphere during such times. In this article, let’s discuss some ways hospitals can do that. Here are five ways to maintain a positive environment during a hospital construction project.
1. Have weekly meetings solely for employees’ well-being.
Typically, medical workers have morning briefings to discuss their agendas for the day. Aside from briefings, they would also have weekly meetings to report on their operations from the last week and share matters that need immediate action. Of course, during hospital construction, these meetings will continue.
But since the hospital will be more demanding and stressful, it’s equally important to conduct weekly meetings solely for employees’ well-being. Having such meetings after their weekly reports is an opportunity to understand how the medical workers are doing. It can be a great way to prevent work burnout and prevent issues from piling up.
It will also help hospital management address issues immediately and know how the patients are doing. It’s good to remember that your medical workers are your front liners. That means they affect your patients’ experience and stay in the hospital. Hence, it’s necessary to prioritise the well-being of your health professionals.
2. Regularly ask the patients how they are and inform them about the status of the construction project.
Aside from the employees, patients are one of the key people in a hospital. In business, they’re the clients of a healthcare facility. That means patients should have a seamless, if not the best experience, within the hospital premises.
Every patient who comes in and out of the hospital has the right to know about the construction project. I’m not saying you need to tell them about the details of the project. Instead, you have to inform them that the hospital might not provide the ideal environment that they’re expecting.
Informing and asking the patients how they are would help prevent any complaints and manage their expectations. That is even critical for patients sensitive to noise, dust, and such.
3. Relocate offices and wards that could be affected during the project as early as possible.
Whether you like it or not, there will be offices in the hospital that will deal with the effects of the construction. Despite preparing and doing everything you can to prevent obstructing them, there will come a time when it will still happen. In short, obstruction is inevitable during the construction period.
Expecting that it will happen can save you so much time and stress. One thing you can do is relocate offices and wards that you think could be affected. If the hospital does not have any vacant space for use, you can consider looking into modular healthcare buildings.
The great thing about modular healthcare buildings is that they’re cheaper. Despite being affordable, modular buildings are efficient and reliable. There’s a reason why many industries rely on them. Your hospital could benefit from it, too, to ensure a positive environment during the construction period.
4. Regularly coordinate with the project contractors to ensure that you’re both on the same page.
The people who will be working on the project will contribute to the hospital’s environment during the project too. And so, hospital management should regularly coordinate with the project contractors regarding their guidelines. Doing so will help both parties to stay on track and move forward together accordingly.
That will prevent any unwanted actions that might cause issues between the hospital and the contractors. You have to be clear about the boundaries on the things that they’re allowed to do within the premises and not. Keep in mind that the patients will be in the hospital. That means they can see and observe how the project is doing.
The hospital should never neglect professionalism during the project. That’s one way to maintain a positive and desirable atmosphere during construction.
5. Keep the hospital clean and sanitary 24/7.
Lastly, keeping the hospital clean and sanitary 24/7 will keep all patients and medical workers happy. Can you imagine working or staying in a place where noise pollution is too much—and there’s dust everywhere? I can. No patient would want to visit a hospital like that despite undergoing construction.
Without any doubt, no patient would accept the excuse that a hospital is unsanitary due to construction. You have to keep in mind that people go to hospitals to seek treatment and care. The last thing they’d want is to feel unsafe in a medical facility.
With that, hospitals should never neglect to keep their premises clean. It would be ideal if you could sanitise the area every five hours or more. That way, people going in and out of the hospital would feel good. You should not let the construction project turn your hospital into an unsanitary facility.
Keeping patients and health workers happy should be the standard.
As you go through a hospital construction project, keep in mind that the key people on the premises 24/7 should always be happy. Hopefully, these five ways will help maintain and promote a positive environment during a hospital construction project. After all, a hospital is where people hope to feel and get better than before.
About the author:
Bianca Banda is a writer for MTX Contracts U.K., a privately owned construction and engineering company. MTX delivers single-source construction and engineering solutions to the UK’s public and private sectors, consistently promoting innovation and sustainable construction.
