Healthcare organizations across the country are facing an unprecedented need for safe and additional spaces for COVID-19 care. Many are experiencing capacity challenges due to the swell in patient volume, especially those with existing space deficiencies. As the situation continues to rapidly evolve, ensuring adequate care capacity to handle all incoming patients is imperative.

While the evolving situation and challenges are daunting, there is a significant opportunity to reopen previously closed healthcare facilities to handle the increased need for care capacity. Governing bodies at the federal, state, and local level, as well as private healthcare providers, often own many decommissioned or vacant facilities well-positioned to handle a surge in patient volume. A prudent and expedited recommissioning strategy must be developed that considers facility condition, safety and capability to handle new patients. To help, our team is volunteering its services to organizations with immediate needs within New York State or within driving distance of Denver or Houston.

As the need for space and equipment to care for COVID-19 patients grows, healthcare administrators need accurate data and sound guidance to make immediate decisions. Quickly developing a recommissioning or repurposing strategy quickly takes the right people and the right tools. “We have a full-time staff of facility assessors across the country that are equipped to deploy immediately and assess the condition, safety and operational adequacy of healthcare facilities,” says Joe Cassata, RA, NCARB, president of FOS of CannonDesign. “We deploy interdisciplinary teams of architects, engineers, and planners, equipped with software developed in-house. This combination allows us to quickly understand and analyze data then deliver reports and plans to guide the decision-making process for recommissioning closed buildings.”

Facility Optimization Solutions (FOS) of CannonDesign is a group purpose-built to provide strategic physical asset management consulting for clients in all markets. Based on our experiences, we’ve outlined a number of best practices for understanding a facility prior to recommissioning or repurposing including collecting the right data, accurate cost estimates, consistent reporting, and strategic actionable plan execution.