5 Tips To Prevent Obstructing Hospital Operations During Construction

Healthcare facilities exist to provide the utmost treatment and care that is possible. They are places where people come in and out with the hopes of regaining and improving their health. Since many people rely on their services, facilities like hospitals need to undergo construction from time to time.  

Many reasons push hospitals to undergo construction. From expanding their services to integrating new facilities, hospitals aim to provide better care. Despite the good intentions, hospital construction can be inconvenient to patients. Truthfully, medical workers are no exception to that disruption, too. 

If both the patients and the health workers are having difficulty during construction, how will they be able to transact smoothly? It would be no surprise if patients became irritable, unsatisfied, and unhappy with the hospital’s services. That is bound to happen if a hospital won’t take necessary precautions during construction.

To avoid that, a hospital must prepare accordingly during such an event. In this article, let’s discuss some tips to prevent obstructing hospital operations during construction. 

1. Study how the construction would obstruct the affected areas of the hospital.

One of the things that many institutions don’t pay much attention to is studying and researching how a project would affect their operations. Often, they start a project without properly endorsing, relocating, or informing the offices that would be affected. As a result, their work operations suffer. 

To prevent that from happening, the hospital must study the possible effects of the construction on their offices. By assessing, you get to prepare your medical workers and employees. Your study will help you prepare for possible relocations during the construction period. 

By studying the possible effects of the construction, the hospital won’t have to put their patients at risk. More importantly, all medical professionals won’t have to worry about unexpected operation changes due to construction. 

2. Coordinate with the construction company and familiarise them with the hospital’s guidelines. 

One of the concerns patients and health workers have during hospital construction is how the contractors behave. There are cases when contractors don’t abide by the hospital’s regulations. As a result, both patients and workers feel uncomfortable in the hospital. 

To prevent that, the hospital should coordinate with the construction company. Every contractor working in the hospital should adhere to its instructions. On top of that, the hospital should designate a place that the contractors can access only. That way, it would prevent them from using patients’ facilities. 

Before starting the hospital construction, make sure that all the team who’ll be working are aware of the regulations. Doing so will help keep the hospital orderly and provide patients with a seamless hospital visit.

3. Relocate critical areas that could be affected during the construction period.

For many people, the hospital is their second home. Unfortunately, many people spend a week, a month, or even a year in hospital rooms. If you can anticipate that construction could affect them, it’s best to relocate them before it begins. 

Relocating the inpatients while construction is ongoing puts them at risk. Exposing them to dust, noise, and debris could affect their condition. Hospitals need to plan when and how to relocate them to prevent that from happening. 

It would be best to look for modular healthcare buildings if the hospital construction would last a year or more. That way, every inpatient would feel safe and comfortable during the project period. Prioritising their needs would surely make their stay as smooth as possible. 

4. Put notices on the hospital’s online pages and around the premises to inform your patients. 

It’s not a pleasant experience to visit a hospital for a check-up just to find out that the clinic you’re going to is now in a different building due to construction. Can you imagine how tiring that would be for a senior citizen? Or even just for someone who is not feeling well? Anyone would surely not be happy with that. 

With that, it’s necessary to inform your patients and guests as early as possible. You can start by posting notices online on the hospital’s website and social media pages. It is nice to regularly post about it so that people who won’t see your initial post will still know about it. 

It is equally necessary to put notices on the hospital’s premises aside from online announcements. Keep in mind that many senior citizens struggle with technology. Disseminating information should be accessible to every patient and guest of the hospital. Doing so allows them to manage their expectations for their visit. 

5. Assign a team to look over construction daily to keep the hospital clean and obstruction-free. 

Lastly, it’s necessary to have people monitor the project daily. There should be people who’ll monitor how construction is affecting the hospital. The hospital should minimise the effects as much as possible. Even though it’s just a matter of noise interruption or dust contamination, the employees should act on it immediately.

Of course, it’s inevitable to avoid any interruptions. But the hospital could always do something to prevent them from escalating into something that would cause discomfort to patients. The same goes for all medical professionals in the hospital. 

More importantly, many patients must be free from dust and other chemicals that could trigger their conditions. That’s why monitoring the effects of construction is a must for smooth and obstruction-free hospital operations.

All in all, patients and employees should remain safe during construction. 

The tips I shared all boil down to one thing. That is to ensure that all patients and employees are safe during the construction period. As you begin working on hospital construction, always keep in mind everyone’s safety. People feeling uncomfortable and unhappy is the last thing you’d want. Do your best to maintain it as a place where they’ll feel happy to seek treatment and care. 

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.