As
Director of Transition Planning, what main challenges do you
face?
Completing
the facility is a complicated and phased project where construction
is occurring at a site next to the hospital and within existing
hospital spaces. Therefore, I spend a great deal of time developing
plans to mitigate construction impacts on existing hospital
operations. This entails a thorough understanding of
when and where construction will occur and assessing whether
noise, dust or fumes will require closing beds or relocating
entire departments for weeks or months. This will be an on-going
problem for the duration of the project. My ultimate responsibility
is to provide leadership and technical guidance to department
heads to assure that plans are sound, safe and well executed,
on budget, and on time.
When
is the anticipated move date?
In addition to a series of small moves, we have three major
move dates scheduled for the near future:
may 12 –
may 19, 2007: The new loading dock and levels A &
B of the Southwest Wing will open, which include the lab,
surgical pathology, and the emergency department.
july 28, 2007: The upper floors of the Southwest
Wing and the remodeled second floor of Merle Norman Pavilion
open. Moves include Labor and Delivery, the Perinatal Unit,
NICU, a medical surgical unit, and the permanent location
for surgical pathology.
december 2007: The Pre- and Post-Recovery
Unit move to the third floor of the Southwest Wing.
late 2009: The new Central Wing, North Tower,
and Orthopaedic Tower open. This will include new operating
rooms, radiology suites, intensive care and medical surgical
units, and most of the support spaces for the hospital.
What
do you need to do to get this started?
The building needs to be finished, licensed and ready for
occupancy.
What
unique difficulties and challenges do you anticipate in preparation
for the major moves?
My biggest concerns involve the competing resources between
the Westwood and Santa Monica projects and the very short
time frame we have to complete our fit-up tasks. In many cases,
there is cross over of staff working on both projects from
the medical center and campus departments. In addition, keeping
up with signage requirements has been a huge task, especially
after we renumbered the entire Merle Norman Pavilion. Upcoming
challenges include outfitting and/or reconfiguring old nursing
units to accommodate patients from Westwood.
Despite
its complexities, do you enjoy your position?
To my delight, I assumed responsibility for the project two-and-one-half
years ago and I continue to find it fascinating and rewarding.
With so many components to this project, the cooperation from
everyone — including people from the hospital, capital
programs, UCMT, information technology, procurement and others
— has been key to our success.
What
past experiences have prepared you for this huge undertaking?
I have been extremely lucky to have experience with both the
Westwood and Santa Monica replacement hospital projects. For
over 10 years I worked on the Westwood project from its initial
phase during the earthquake damage assessment through the
replacement hospital’s design and construction. The
opportunity to interact with the architects and hundreds of
staff members and to participate in just about every aspect
of a building project has been very exciting and rewarding.
My clinical experience as an inpatient nurse, as well as my
outpatient managerial experience has helped me understand
various aspects of the project from design to transition into
the new hospital.
What
are your hobbies when you’re not at work?
I enjoy friends, movies, theater, flea markets and spending
time with my 15-year-old daughter on the soccer fields. In
addition, I love puzzles and logic problems, which is why
I find my current job so much fun.
|
