Healthcare Design - August 2021 - 33

to six people and existing private offices and workstations will be " free address "
with employees having the ability to sign up for a space as needed.
Overall, organizations are looking for different furnishings and office
equipment to support these types of new work environments, such as soft
seating and booths to create casual gathering spaces and day lockers where
employees without a dedicated desk can store belongings when they're on
site. " I don't think there's going to be a lot of workstations, or those traditional
L-shaped workstations with upper cabinets, " says Hagerty, adding
that among the ideas under consideration for CHOP Commons are a
vending machine for office supplies, a mail room for employees who will no
longer have a permanent office address, and a print center for color documents
or larger materials.
Traditional conference rooms are also being reconsidered as organizations
instead embrace a more flexible setup that allows people to more
easily interact or get up and move around. " Fewer people are going back
to a 10-person presentation with everyone sitting, especially if it involves
travel, because companies are realizing that's a lot of money to spend for a
meeting that they can have just as easily on laptops, " Behnfeldt says.
TEACHING MOMENT
While healthcare organizations begin crafting new work settings, they're
also leaving room for further adaptations and changes. " I guarantee we're
not going to get this perfect, " Hagerty says. " This is not a one and done.
We're going to be monitoring and trying new things. " For example, she says
SPOTLIGHT ON
HCD EXPO
To learn
more about
trends in
workplace design
in the healthcare
sector, check out the
session " Thinking
Outside the Cube:
Balancing Your Real
Estate Portfolio " at
the 2021 HCD Expo
& Conference, Oct.
23-26 in Cleveland.
For conference and
registration details,
visit HCDexpo.com.
if CHOP Commons locations get too busy, the
organization is ready to open others in existing
shell space. The organization also plans to check
utilization rates via card swipes to help gauge
ongoing needs and what types of spaces employees
are favoring.
Heeley adds that gathering real-time feedback
from employees and making course corrections
as needed will be key to success-especially following
a year when staff members have already
been asked to adapt so much. " This is yet another
change, so we're hoping that people latch
on and that they feel that they're part of the process, "
she says.
Altogether, Hagerty notes that these changes
are no small thing. " We're changing the way people
work, " she says. " At the end of the day, there
will be cost savings. But also, I believe there will
be a bump in employee morale because people
have choice. " 
Anne DiNardo is executive editor of Healthcare
Design. She can be reached at ANNE.DINARDO@
EMERALDX.COM.
http://www.HCDexpo.com http://www.HCDexpo.com http://commercial.tarkett.com/en_US http://commercial.tarkett.com/en_US
Healthcare Design - August 2021

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