KI Furnishing Solutions Support Employee Needs and Efficiency
To continually improve the health of the community it serves, United Regional Health Care System makes ongoing investments in advanced technology and state-of-the-art medical facilities. To continually improve the efficiencies of its operations, United Regional brought this same sense of excellence to launch the consolidation of its multiple business departments into a single location.
United Regional’s 14 business units and team of employees were previously scattered across the system’s vast campus. The consolidation required that a variety of departments—from administration and billing to collections and medical records—be housed on a single, 44,000-square-foot, wide-open floor of the hospital’s Bethania Building.
To help support the massive consolidation endeavor, KI space planners and furniture solutions experts joined with architects and designers from Bundy, Young, Sims & Potter, Inc. to address the chief project challenge, maximizing and optimizing space.
Given that the only walls on the floor were to be located around the perimeter, concerns included how to power the many workstations and how to reduce the potential for ambient noise. Also a concern was the need to create an inviting and efficient space, thereby easing employees’ apprehensions over the move, many of whom were accustomed to existing workspaces.
The second floor of the Bethania Building was designated to house the newly consolidated business team. Long before the floor’s former surgery suites were demolished, KI provided comprehensive CAD/space-planning services. KI’s insights helped United Regional identify the optimal arrangement for fitting in all the necessary workstations. Once the demo was done, the design plan proved to be spot on, saving considerable time and energy in the process.
KI’s System 3000 panel system provided the right solution on many levels. It allowed the building’s power to be easily pulled from the ceiling with top feeds blending in seamlessly. Panel heights and carefully chosen materials also provided ample noise reduction. Additional panel features, such as built in tack boards, met both the needs of the employees and the hospital’s desire for order and efficiency.
Terry Lowry, Interior Designer, Bundy, Young, Sims & PotterThe overall appearance is professional and yet the workstations give employees the opportunity to personalize their space while providing that certain level of privacy they're accustomed to.
A nearby room used for orientation, meetings, educational training and employee forums needed to accommodate fluctuating numbers of tables and chairs. KI addressed facilities management’s concern over moving and storage with nesting tables and chairs that “stow and go” easily.
To complement United Regional’s campus-wide transition to contemporary, state-of-the-art environments, KI provided aesthetically pleasing furniture solutions that reflected the modern health-care environment. Among these solutions was the Soltíce Collection, which beautifully supported the modern appeal the hospital strived to convey.
Design planning between KI, United Regional and Bundy, Young, Sims & Potter was a seamless process. “This project required a lot of furniture and KI made the process all too easy,” said Lowry. “A few times, the hospital had to make needed changes, but KI never blinked. They simply measured, resubmitted costs and quickly accommodated the requests, no problem.”
Installation was also a point of ease and satisfaction. “There was no need to babysit this group,” said Lowry. “We could just give them drawings and know it would be done correctly.”
United Regional has gained important operational efficiencies through the successful consolidation. Its business units no longer traverse across the medical campus in order to collaborate with one another. Instead, they simply reach across the aisle.
