by Brianna Crandall — May 9, 2016 — Mercy Health Muskegon recently announced the final design and timeline for its new $271 million, 267-bed medical center on the Mercy Campus at 1500 E. Sherman Blvd. The new medical center, which will be among the nation’s first using the “lean” process in its design, will bring all Mercy Health Muskegon-area inpati
Mercy Health Muskegon medical center used lean design to optimize patient flows and improve care experience for patients and families; rendering of patient room shown here.
ent services together at a central location. Preliminary site work began last year, and groundbreaking is set for September.
The new Mercy Health Muskegon medical center will feature nine stories attached to the existing facility on the Mercy Campus, with an entirely new state-of-the-art emergency department and optimized patient flows, which will improve the care experience for patients and their families.
With indications of the patient-centered way health care will be delivered in the future, new lean architecture and new lean processes were combined to transform health care delivery. This began with two-dimensional modeling of each floor. Architectural models were then built and tested for patient convenience, and full-scale models were built and repeatedly tested, which led to the innovative design.
More than 300 front-line colleagues, physicians, patients, medical care staff, local leaders and volunteers spent thousands of hours with the project’s lead architects HGA Architects and Engineers, designing, testing and redesigning to optimize the patient care experience, says Mercy Health.
Among the main features of the patient-centered design are:
- Single-occupancy rooms, with ample room for family members, to allow for greater patient privacy and comfort;
- One campus location for all hospital service needs;
- Strategically location of surgery and emergency departments for trauma and critical patients;
- Placement of medicines and supplies closer to the patient rooms to give caregivers more time at the bedside;
- Establishment of an environment that fosters new protocols and treatment standards to improve outcomes; and
- Design that helps patients find their way faster and reduce waiting times.
The new medical center is reportedly the largest single construction project in the history of Mercy Health Muskegon and the Muskegon area. According to a cited economic analysis, Mercy Health Muskegon will spend $266 million in the region to build the facility, including adding value to the region’s economic performance, providing short-term jobs, and providing earnings through a short-term increase in demand for goods and services.
