Healthcare Design - August 2018 - 40

In Focus

time to both upgrade and expand the facility
to accommodate new patient needs and support an onstage/offstage care delivery model,
PTHA chose to overhaul the existing clinical
spaces and redesign the interior using a modular wall system, as well as add 10,000 square
feet of new clinical space using the same modular wall concept. The goal was to provide
flexibility to adapt to future health delivery
concepts without having to fully remodel the
building again.
* The Polyclinic Northgate Plaza-In 2016,
The Polyclinic (TPC) in Seattle began developing clinic space in an existing five-story,
60,000-square-foot building. The intent was
to establish provider space one floor at a time
and expand over multiple years. The provider
didn't own all the floors yet and decided to use
a modular approach that could be adapted to
each floor as it became available. The challenge was creating flexible exam room modules that could be modified at any given time,
without disturbing tenants above or below. To
that end, TPC used prefabricated wall systems
for the initial 12,000 square feet of development on the second floor.
* EvergreenHealth Silver Tower-Evergreen
Hospital's Silver Tower was designed and constructed in the mid-2000s and included multiple vacant floors for future development.
In 2015, the provider was ready to finish two
floors of progressive care units totaling 62
beds, but also recognized that there would be
complications any time technology or utility
services had to be upgraded, likely resulting
in patient rooms temporarily being shut down
and hospital revenue affected. The provider
decided an innovative approach was required
and requested the use of prefabricated walls
for any location that didn't require fire- or
smoke-rated assemblies, including headwalls
and footwalls.

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ABOV E : The Polyclinic's

new Northgate Plaza
clinic in Seattle used
modular walls in the exam
rooms and team stations
to help the facility adapt
to changing care needs.
BE LOW: For the new
progressive care units at
EvergreenHealth Silver
Tower in Kirkland, Wash.,
designers installed a
manufactured wall system
with integrated utilities,
casework, and doors
that can easily accommodate future technology
upgrades.

of the building and making future changes easier. Facilities teams often
have ideals of establishing standardized room sizes throughout a building. However, reality often dictates the use of many one-off rooms that
don't meet that standard, resulting from column spacing and placement
of stairs, elevators, and mechanical/electrical rooms.
The facilities teams were determined to establish standardized care
spaces and found that working within the manufacturers' modular
systems helped them achieve that goal by taking the first step to define
functional uses in allocated spaces. For example, if an exam room is
planned for 10 feet by 12 feet, the wall system modules must support the
dimensional needs of this configuration. This offers the future ability of
changing the configuration of the modules into smaller or larger rooms
using standardized panel widths. While the facilities may not have
achieved 100 percent of their standardization goals, all were in the 90th
percentile.
Another driving factor was adaptability. One month, a physician's suite
may be dedicated to primary care and the next month to pediatric care.
A medical/surgical patient room may become an ICU patient room next
year, as service demands change. Facilities that are flexible and modular have the greatest advantage of allowing these adjustments. Keeping the walls where they exist and removing the face panel from the
wall to access the framing system allows for low-voltage wiring, power
outlet configurations, nurse call devices, and even plumbing to be installed, modified, or removed without tearing down walls. The facilities

KEY DRIVERS

The author toured each of these buildings
with their respective facilities director or staff
members, interviewing the users about key
decisions that helped them determine the use
of prefabricated walls as the building delivery
solution. Seeing more demands for these types
of applications in healthcare facilities, the goal
was to learn the driving forces behind the decisions to use these systems.
Among the top reasons was the ability to establish standardized care spaces and layouts
to simplify assigning practices to any portion

AUGUST 2018

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Healthcare Design - August 2018

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