Improving the Patient’s Experience = More Revenue

The Problem

A hospital with more than two million square feet and over 500 beds was regularly turning patients away because their inpatient capacity was regularly running over 80% occupancy. Capacity constraints forced the hospital to utilize ICU rooms that lacked windows. Landlocked in an urban environment with an inability to expand vertically due to its proximity to an historic district, health system leaders required creative solutions to accommodate patient demand.

Approach and Solution

There was no available vacant space on the campus for additional inpatient beds. Without an open chair space, it was difficult to renovate individual units. After investigating whether it was achievable to retrofit outpatient space for inpatient use, the Catalyst team recommended demolishing original campus buildings that housed the chapel and business support space to backfill the space with a new nine-floor pavilion housing 84 new ICU beds and 32 Med-Surg beds. These changes provided an open chair for right-sizing, decompressing and renovating existing inpatient units over time. The net effect of the new pavilion allowed the hospital to cease investing new money in old, suboptimal space that resulted in a less than ideal solution. Instead, the system can invest in new space and reuse the old for non-clinical functions.