Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Strategic Capacity Plan LOCATION
Palo
Alto,
CA
|
DATES
2007
–
2008
Case Study |
SIZE
249,449
SF
Treatment capacity for an internationally renowned children’s hospital TYPE Healthcare
CHALLENGE | Develop a strategy to resolve the hospital’s 12% capacity deficit without adding square footage.
SERVICES Data Collection Facilities Assessment Scenario Modeling Strategic Facilities Plan
CONTEXT | Built in 1991, by 2008 Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital (LPCH) had outgrown its 249,449 SF facility and faced an immediate need for 30,000 NSF of core tertiary and quaternary care space. Construction of a new hospital was underway, but would not be complete for another 15 years. Building and zoning codes precluded any additions to the existing facility. Finances stipulated the solution have an amortization schedule of less than 10 years. LPCH needed a viable strategy to resolve its capacity crunch quickly and cost-effectively without compromising patient care and staff wellbeing.
© 2017 MKThink
APPROACH | MKThink conducted a 22-month planning and assessment study of user patterns, operational scheduling, and facility layout and conditions. The project team inventoried LPCH’s current assets, classifying square footage allocations by type, function, and division. They conducted 3 weeks of on-site observations to document hourly occupancy and utilization for 8 different room types and then compared observed usage to planned use and healthcare facility best practices. NATE GOORE
Principal, MKThink Nate’s multi-disciplinary career spans architecture, information technology, banking, marketing, and product development. His expertise is integrating the physical environment with business processes and organizational change to create lasting economic value.
The study identified underutilized and under-occupied spaces and areas for non-critical functions that could be recaptured and repurposed for medical use. KEY ANALYTIC FINDINGS | The analysis revealed the hospital to be underutilized by 14%, refuting the prior assessment: • 21,400 SF of non-medical activity could be relocated without restricting operations. • Workroom utilization averaged 50%, peaking at 65-75% from 11 am to 6 pm. • Workroom occupancy rarely exceeded 40% of capacity. • Workrooms were 3 times bigger than actual use requires.
LUCILE PACKARD Founder, LPCH “Yes, we are going to build a hospital. All we have to do is roll up our sleeves higher and work harder.”
Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital: Strategic Capacity Plan
© 2017 MKThink
General-use staff areas rarely exceeded 40% capacity.
Improving utilization and occupancy of general-use space would double the effective capacity.
Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital: Strategic Capacity Plan
Š 2017 MKThink
STRATEGY | MKThink applied the analytic findings to inform an integrated strategy to solve for LPCH’s quantitative and qualitative capacity needs. 1. Refine on-site functions and optimize room size and layouts to increase capacity performance within the existing facility footprint. 2. Improve utilization of on-site square footage to free up space by a) increasing room-inuse hours and occupant density, and b) increasing storage density and reducing on-site inventory. 3. Relocate administrative functions off-site.
Classifying rooms by function informed the prioritization of spaces relative to operational objectives.
Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital: Strategic Capacity Plan
© 2017 MKThink
Relocating administrative functions off-site yielded a potential 27,160 NSF; hoteling would provide office amenities for off-site staff.
RESULT | MKThink advised LPCH on architectural renovations and space optimization to repurpose administrative space for medical use and rightsize break rooms and workrooms to recapture space for critical functions. LPCH relocated administrative staff into an adjacent medical office building. IMPACTS OF THIS RESULT | • 30,000 SF recaptured • Avoided $30 million in construction costs • 4% increase in productivity • 19% increase in space for direct patient care • 44% increase in areas for patients’ families • 32% increase in workspace for staff
Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital: Strategic Capacity Plan
© 2017 MKThink
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