Hospital building codes have changed since North Shore Hospital was remodeled in 1994. Architect Rebecca Lewis of DSGW Architects, who was involved in that project, talked to the hospital board on August 23 about changes they might want to consider.
North Shore Hospital has a lot of corridors—just ask anyone who’s wandered around feeling lost in the maze. Collapsing some of those corridors might make better use of space, Lewis said, and “right-sizing” should be part of the equation.
Lewis, hired to help the hospital examine its use of space, has inventoried spaces, interviewed staff, and investigated projected future uses. Her recommendation includes decreasing the size of the care center, increasing other areas such as the radiology, emergency room, and lab departments, and keeping support staff space the same.
Health care keeps changing, said Hospital Administrator Kimber Wraalstad, and whatever remodeling they do should allow flexibility so that spaces can be reconfigured as needed. Lewis concurred, saying that things such as countertops that used to be built in are now designed so they can be moved around.
Hospitals also need to have the infrastructure to make use of potential Internet applications, Lewis said.
A very big hospital concept today is making some rooms big enough for family members to stay and help provide care, Lewis said. Another trend is mobile units for services that were once housed in buildings, such as dentistry, counseling, and wellness promotion.
Lewis presented the board with some design ideas, including a unified nurses station for both hospital (emergency room and inpatient) and care center staff. This is a new concept in hospital design, she said.
Board members asked about whether a new design could include a helipad on the roof so that the employee parking lot would not have to be cleared every time a helicopter was headed to the hospital. Pilots love that, Lewis said, but the infrastructure is very expensive.
The analysis conducted by DSGW Architects recommends expanding from 53,978 square feet to 68,540 square feet— almost 27 percent larger.
If the hospital were to move toward making changes, the whole process might take three to five years, Lewis said, but they could do it in phases.
Last year, the hospital’s auditor pointed out that North Shore Hospital’s building is older than the average age of Minnesota hospitals.
In a separate interview, Administrator Wraalstad named several areas that would benefit from new space and new infrastructure. When the building was expanded in 1994, they would not have known that charting would be done on computer in a patient’s room, she said. The Radiology Department needs more space because it has much more equipment than it used to. A more private emergency room is needed. “We just don’t have the kind of privacy I think people want,” she said.
A redesigned facility would consider ways to be patientfriendly, such as helping people get where they need to go without too much confusion.
Regarding the next steps from here, Lewis recommended seeking “buy-in” from the state of Minnesota, including the Department of Transportation and the Department of Health. She recommended including the Federal Aviation Administration early on as well. She said to tell the state, “This is what we need to do—you help us figure out how to make this work.”
Administrator Wraalstad told the News-Herald that the hospital already has some money in its capital fund, and the bond market is really good right now. Even if a newly remodeled facility were bigger, she said, it might save on energy costs if it were built more efficiently than the current facility.
In other hospital news:
. The hospital has purchased the Masonic Lodge building just to the northeast of the hospital building. The board authorized Administrator Wraalstad to work with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources on the possibility of renting the building to them while their Grand Marais offices are being remodeled.
One benefit of this would be that the hospital could find out how much it costs to heat the building fulltime. Previously, the building was used only four times a month—twice by the Masons and twice by the Eastern Star.
. The board authorized the use of Lake Superior Credentialing Verification Service, a nonprofit organization operated by St. Luke’s Hospital, for verification of education and licensure and reference checks of medical staff applicants at a cost of $120 for each initial verification. This is something North Shore Hospital staff has been doing, but it has been challenging to get the necessary information, according to a memo to the board from Administrator Wraalstad.
. The hospital’s financial picture is better than what was expected for this time of year, but the typically slow months are still ahead, Controller Yvonne Gennrich reported. The hospital has 193.2 days cash on hand.
. The board approved a preliminary levy of $1.2 million. This could be lowered by the time the final levy is set in December—which has been done in the past—but it cannot be raised.
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