AAMI: So you want to move a hospital?
SAN ANTONIO—How does someone who is not a medical equipment planner organize, implement and install the move of a 300-bed hospital into a brand new facility? Jeff Hooper, director of biomedical engineering at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., answered that question during a June 26 morning presentation at the 2011 Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) conference & expo.
An unsuspecting volunteer, Hooper delivered an honest and at times humorous account of what he encountered in accepting the challenge of moving the equipment of an entire hospital. “You have to be really detail-oriented for a job like this,” said Hooper.
He acknowledged the awkward political and personal battles that emerged with hospital staff over the course of the move, and specifically pointed to a once strong friendship with a co-worker that fractured during the process. “She thought that I could help get her all the equipment she wanted, and I couldn't,” said Hooper.
He also revealed the importance in establishing and maintaining good relationships with external parties, such as the contractors and construction companies. "The strong relationship we had with the contractor, for example, allowed us to use one of the completed rooms for trash," said Hooper. "That's one of those things you would never think about. Where are we going to put all the trash after we unpack all this equipment? More importantly, who is going to pick up the trash after we unpack all this equipment?"
Another important development occurred after the equipment had been installed. The question: Who is going to train who and when? That's when the biomedical engineers stepped in. "The biomeds learned the equipment first and that's when they became the subject matter experts. They were soon training the nursing staff on the new equipment."
Hooper developed a 14-step process to aid medical equipment planners in moving hospital equipment from one facility to another. His steps reveal a series of complex relationships with hospital leadership, staff, construction companies, architects, IT specialists and clinical engineers.
Here are his 14 steps:
1. Scope
2. Establish a budget
3. Inventory existing
4. User needs
5. Tech assessment
6. Space planning
7. Engineering design
8. Construction
9. Purchasing
10. Delivery and storage
11. Installation
12. Training
13. Go Live
14. Invoicing
There are currently 11,000 medical devices housed at Children’s National Medical Center, in addition to a 13-person biomedical engineering team, all of which suggests a successful move. "I didn't know what I was getting myself into," said Hooper. "You wouldn't believe the decision-making process in picking out a stool."
An unsuspecting volunteer, Hooper delivered an honest and at times humorous account of what he encountered in accepting the challenge of moving the equipment of an entire hospital. “You have to be really detail-oriented for a job like this,” said Hooper.
He acknowledged the awkward political and personal battles that emerged with hospital staff over the course of the move, and specifically pointed to a once strong friendship with a co-worker that fractured during the process. “She thought that I could help get her all the equipment she wanted, and I couldn't,” said Hooper.
He also revealed the importance in establishing and maintaining good relationships with external parties, such as the contractors and construction companies. "The strong relationship we had with the contractor, for example, allowed us to use one of the completed rooms for trash," said Hooper. "That's one of those things you would never think about. Where are we going to put all the trash after we unpack all this equipment? More importantly, who is going to pick up the trash after we unpack all this equipment?"
Another important development occurred after the equipment had been installed. The question: Who is going to train who and when? That's when the biomedical engineers stepped in. "The biomeds learned the equipment first and that's when they became the subject matter experts. They were soon training the nursing staff on the new equipment."
Hooper developed a 14-step process to aid medical equipment planners in moving hospital equipment from one facility to another. His steps reveal a series of complex relationships with hospital leadership, staff, construction companies, architects, IT specialists and clinical engineers.
Here are his 14 steps:
1. Scope
2. Establish a budget
3. Inventory existing
4. User needs
5. Tech assessment
6. Space planning
7. Engineering design
8. Construction
9. Purchasing
10. Delivery and storage
11. Installation
12. Training
13. Go Live
14. Invoicing
There are currently 11,000 medical devices housed at Children’s National Medical Center, in addition to a 13-person biomedical engineering team, all of which suggests a successful move. "I didn't know what I was getting myself into," said Hooper. "You wouldn't believe the decision-making process in picking out a stool."