Masterminding the Master Plan Process

Assignment: Plan a patient tower for children’s services. It must have seamless access to many of the main hospital’s medical and support services. Design it within a tight footprint on the medical center’s property. Work within budget restrictions. Develop a new vision and identity focused on the Southwest Florida community. Actively involve more than 100 stakeholders—clinicians, physicians, parents, community representatives, and hospital system leadership—in the process.

Lee Memorial Health Systems, a provider of healthcare in Southwest Florida, chose the HKS master planning team to consolidate The Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida (TCH) in a new patient tower in 2010. Through its planning process, the HKS/TCH team set a new standard for collaborative planning and programming. 

Kathy Bridge-Liles, vice president, Women’s and Children’s Services at TCH, says, “When we chose HKS, we believed they were knowledgeable and down-to-earth. HKS listened. If someone expressed concerns at a meeting, those concerns were addressed and often clarified at future meetings. All opinions were respected and considered. HKS helped us create an environment that was very transparent. That is why we were able to accomplish such great results.”   

So what was the difference? Rachel Saucier, vice president with HKS, sums it up: “In a traditional master planning process, we usually don’t have the opportunity to really get to know the end users. As a result, we may make assumptions on square footages and adjacencies, based on industry standards. At TCH, we were able to spend time with a representative cross section of the staff and were able to address issues that wouldn’t have come up without their involvement.”

Planning the planning

The master plan process involved seven months; eight rounds of meetings; 80 staff members, clinicians, and physicians; and 22 family representatives. 

Setting schedules and agendas. Months in advance, HKS and TCH facilities’ staff researched calendar availabilities for planning team members, and sent emails for workshops and smaller group meetings for the seven-month process. Agendas, action items, and timeframes for each workshop and meeting were planned in advance.

Jennie Evans, vice president, Clinical Solutions & Research Group with HKS, says, “The hospital placed the right people on the steering committee: health system representatives, philanthropists, medical and nursing staff, board members, and family focus and community representatives. The hospital’s facilities person—a dedicated coordinator with significant ownership in the process—was totally engaged.”

Creating a master plan space. HKS set up one room for small group sessions of eight to 10 people, so that doctors, nurses, and parents could meet in the same space and see posted on the walls the comments and priorities of the other groups.

Touring/shadowing staff. HKS architects and clinical research team members toured every pediatric department. Observations identified critical issues that affected master planning, design, and programming for the hospital and set the stage for discussion workshops and group meetings.

Workshop sessions

In addition to small group meetings of eight to 10 people working on process and specific issues, the team planned larger workshops for various team members. Information gleaned from observations set the stage for discussion.

Visioning workshops included three sessions: an overall project session that included administrators, physicians, and board members; a clinical process session that involved nurses and clinical staff; and a family focus session that worked with parents to capture their unique perspectives.