By ARC Facilities
When Facilities and Business Leaders Align, Everyone Wins
Across the healthcare sector, a common struggle persists -- facilities teams often take a backseat at the budget table. Business leaders naturally focus on revenue protection and patient satisfaction, while facilities teams focus on prolonging the life of critical assets and ensuring regulatory compliance.
At first glance, it may seem these groups have different goals. In reality, they are aligned — just looking at the same mission from different angles. A roof leak, an HVAC failure, or a delayed response to a fire alarm system malfunction isn't just a "maintenance issue" -- it’s a direct threat to operational continuity, patient safety, and financial performance.
When healthcare organizations bridge this gap, magic happens:
- Budgets stretch further
- Emergencies become preventable
- Facilities transform from cost centers into strategic assets.
But how do you build that bridge? The answer lies in data, communication, and technology — and that’s where ARC Facilities offers a game-changing advantage. Learn more.
Closing the Financial Literacy Gap in Facilities Management
“Unfortunately, nobody’s teaching financial literacy for FMs,” said Andrea Crabb, Senior Vice President of Facilities at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.
Too often, facilities teams present funding requests in terms that don’t resonate with CFOs or business services leaders. It’s not enough to say, "We need $500,000 for chiller replacements." It must sound like, "Investing $500,000 today will prevent $2 million in system failures and lost patient revenue next year."
Facilities managers who understand ROI, net present value (NPV), and lifecycle cost analysis become invaluable strategic partners. Even foundational financial knowledge—gained through courses, mentorship, or on-the-job learning—can catapult facilities conversations to new heights.
ARC Facilities equips facilities leaders with real time access to building data, making it easy to turn field activity into visual insights, support planning with facts, and communicate impact to leadership.
Risk Management: The Unspoken Currency of Healthcare Facilities
In healthcare, downtime isn't just expensive — it can be deadly.
Andrea Crabb shared a chilling story: A major water leak in a residence hall went unnoticed for 12 hours. The result? Millions in damage, displaced residents, reputational harm, and an enormous insurance claim.
With ARC Facilities, that story could have ended differently.
Real-time, mobile access to shut-off locations, emergency protocols, and up-to-date building information, empowers facilities teams to act fast, dramatically reduces response times.
Every minute saved during a crisis translates to lower costs, reduced liability, and uninterrupted patient care. That’s the true currency of facilities risk management.
Data-Driven Decisions Win Executive Support
Healthcare executives don’t make decisions based on gut instinct; they demand hard data.
Facility managers should:
- Quantify the cost of inaction.
- Present projects as strategic enablers, not operational “nice-to-haves.”
- Visualize risk with heat maps.
"Sometimes it’s better to paint a bold picture using infographics rather than droning on about numbers and percentages," advised Nico Viola of Holden Forests & Gardens.
Doug Aldrich, an IFMA Fellow, said: “I secured $800,000 in ten minutes with three slides. Long presentations lose money and cure insomnia.”
ARC Facilities helps facilities teams capture and organize critical building and equipment information—so they can clearly show what’s at risk, what’s been maintained, and where proactive investment can prevent costly disruptions. How it works.
ARC Facilities: Building a Foundation for Healthcare Resilience
Business continuity. Budget protection. Risk mitigation. Knowledge preservation.
In healthcare, where deferred maintenance, institutional knowledge loss, operational surprises, and compliance pressures collide daily, ARC Facilities provides a centralized, accessible platform that helps teams:
- Prevent small issues from spiraling into budget-breaking emergencies
- Tap into the value of existing building and equipment information
- Maintain oversight of bond and capital projects
- Preserve institutional knowledge as teams change
ARC Facilities helps healthcare organizations stay ready, reduce risk, and keep operations moving, no matter what.
Smart Questions for Healthcare Business Leaders to Consider
If you’re leading the business side of a healthcare organization, ask yourself:
- Have we had to cover an unexpected facilities expense this year?
- How confident are we that our modernization projects are starting from complete plan sets?
- What happens if our senior facilities person retires tomorrow?
- How fast could we produce shut-off maps or inspection records during an insurance audit or emergency?
- Do our operations and business services teams share a single system of record for infrastructure data?
If any of these questions make you uneasy, it’s time to talk to ARC Facilities. Request an informational call today.
5 Ways Healthcare Facilities Teams Can Lead, Influence, and Drive Value
Tip 1: Get Facilities Involved Early Facilities teams can reduce change orders by up to 45% by participating during the design phase — saving an average of $1.3M per project.
Tip 2: Use Visual Tools to Tell the Story Data-driven visuals such as heat maps improve leadership understanding by 70% and increase funding approval rates.
Tip 3: Build Trust Through Regular Communication Quarterly executive walkthroughs and “Technician Tuesdays” build rapport, boost visibility, and reduce work order backlogs.
Tip 4: Champion Technology for Mobile Access Mobile access to building information increases uptime by 20% and cuts operating expenses by 10–15%.
Tip 5: Frame Facilities as a Strategic Investment Facilities aren’t overhead — they’re business enablers. Companies prioritizing facilities see 15% higher workforce productivity.
View on-demand webinar: Building the Business Case for Facilities. How to Get a Yes.
Final Takeaway: The Seat at the Leadership Table
To earn a permanent seat at the leadership table, facilities teams must show how they reduce risk, protect revenue, and drive operational resilience.
ARC Facilities empowers them to do exactly that.
In a world where a single flood, fire, or outage can spiral into a multi-million-dollar crises, ARC Facilities isn’t just a technology investment, it’s a business imperative.
The future of healthcare depends not only on skilled physicians and groundbreaking therapies, but also on the facilities teams who protect operations, and the tools that empower them.
ARC Facilities Healthcare Customer Stories
A Customer Story: St. Francis Hospital
A Customer Story: Martin Luther King Jr. Community Hospital
Discover how ARC Facilities can help you protect patients, staff, and operations—start your readiness journey today.