Introduction
The completed floor plan presents the results of redesigning the local Ambulatory Care Clinic which usually provides the services for dozens of outpatients a day. The design of the Ambulatory Care Clinic’s building can be discussed as appropriate for completing the necessary renovation. The reason for selecting the Ambulatory Care Clinic as the facility for redesigning is in the fact that the facility is not appropriate to accept dozens of visitors a day because of the lack of working space and rooms for the staff and patients. The Ambulatory Care Clinic is the most frequently visited health care facility in the city, and the goal of redesigning is to meet the stakeholders’ needs and interests. Thus, referring to the project development and the aspects of the completed floor plan, it is necessary to summarize stakeholders’ needs, planning needs and goals, project budget, project outcomes, the rationale for design choices, and recommendations for future projects.
The Project Stakeholders, Planning Needs, and Goals
The stakeholders of the developed project are the staff, the community and patients, and the clinic’s administration. The needs of these stakeholders are different, and the planning needs depend on the stakeholders’ interests. Thus, the clinic’s staff needs to redesign the examination rooms and rooms for the personnel to receive more space to locate medical instruments, examine the patients, and perform medical procedures (Petersen & Alexander, 2001, p. 194). That is why, the planning needs include the design of the rooms for the personnel and administration, and for locating the diagnostic and laboratory equipment.
Referring to the community’s needs, it is possible to state that the number and size of existing waiting rooms are not relevant to address the needs of the staff and patients. From this point, the planning needs also include the expansion of the ambulatory care center’s territories, the improvement of the waiting rooms and corridors’ design to place more patients, the design of more rooms for ambulatory patients (Guenther & Vittori, 2008, p. 112). As a result, the planning goals include the expansion of the waiting space for patients; the redesign of the rooms for ambulatory patients while expanding the patient ward area; the redesign of the rooms for the staff and diagnostic and laboratory equipment; and the improvement of the corridors’ design with the focus on designing the large waiting area (Petersen & Alexander, 2001, p. 200).
Cost Estimates and the Budget Planning
To estimate costs associated with redesigning the facility, it is necessary to refer to the chart presenting the cost estimates related to the furniture and equipment in the adult examination room (Table 1).
Table 1. The Cost Estimates For the Adult Examination Room.
The total equipment and furniture costs for the adult examination room are $19,170. This sum can be discussed as minimal in relation to equipping the facilities’ rooms and laboratories. To handle the budget planning, it is necessary to focus on determining the maximum and minimum costs for redesigning and equipping all the spaces and rooms in the facility. Redesign of the laboratory, radiology room, dental examination, and operatory room is expected to be the most expensive. The increase in the costs depends on changing the laboratory and diagnostics equipment presented in the discussed rooms with the modern analogs (Guenther & Vittori, 2008, p. 114). Much attention should be paid to the costs associated with redesigning such facility’s spaces as the waiting area for patients and the patient ward area.
The Outcomes Associated with Completing the Floor Plan
Referring to the experience received while completing the floor plan for the Ambulatory Care Clinic’s facility, it is possible to note that the most important stage in the development of the plan for redesigning should address the stakeholders’ needs while focusing on the proposed budget and resources. To design an effective facility to address the staff and patients’ needs and expectations, it is also necessary to focus on the specific regulations and standards associated with the health care facility planning. These main standards and regulations are the Occupational Safety and Health Administration requirements to the health care facilities. The ADA guidelines are also important to be followed while developing the facility’s plan because of the necessity to build the center which addresses all the norms of safety.
The Rationale for Design Choices
The proposed design choices are based on the necessity to address the stakeholders’ needs and interests. Having completed the needs assessment, it is important to formulate the goals for the facility planning which can respond to the determined needs (Hayward, 2006, p. 130; Porter, 2010, p. 92). The focus on designing the waiting area for patients as the waiting hall can be supported by the fact that the main community and staff’s requirement is a redesign of the waiting rooms which do not provide enough space for waiting and having a rest.
The next important design approach is the expansion of the patient ward area to focus on the large space which can be easily monitored by nurses and physicians. The laboratory room and the diagnostics areas are located close to each other in order to contribute to the physician’s and nurses’ easy movement. The corridors of the facility are redesigned to contribute to the patient’s and staff’s flow (Guenther & Vittori, 2008, p. 114; Hayward, 2006, p. 130). From this point, the reasons for the realized design choices are in the necessity to respond to the determined staff and community’s needs.
Conclusion and Recommendations
The completed floor plan for the Ambulatory Care Clinic can be discussed as the effective approach to redesigning the facility in order to meet the stakeholders’ interests and requirements. The provided plan presents the improvements in relation to all the problematic areas of the current Ambulatory Care Clinic’s facility, and these improvements can be discussed as contributing to the effectiveness of the provided services for the community. From this point, there are few recommendations with can be used in relation to changing the provided plan and facility’s design. The main changes can be associated with the ideas regarding the equipment of the laboratory and diagnostics units in the discussed Ambulatory Care Clinic’s facility. Thus, any further improvements should be connected with equipping the rooms and planning the budget to meet the needs of the clinic’s administration.
References
Guenther, R., & Vittori, G. (2008). Sustainable healthcare architecture. USA: John Wiley & Sons.
Hayward, S. (2006). Healthcare facility planning: Thinking strategically. USA: Health Administration Press.
Petersen, D., & Alexander, G. (2001). Needs assessment in public health: A practical guide for students and professionals. USA: Springer.
Porter, W. (2010). Preplanning for EMS. USA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.