• E-mail
• Print
• RSS

Check out these handy tips to keep staff and patients aware of your hospital renovations

Accreditation Connection, August 27, 2004

No hospital wants its renovation or upgrade project endangering the health and safety of employees, patients, and visitors.

If you have a renovation or construction project underway at your hospital--or plan to start work in the coming months--remember to get the word out about these activities. Employees, patients, visitors, volunteers, and medical students all need the latest information about projects and their progress.

Often, a message receives more attention if it shows up in various forms. Don't rely on just word-of-mouth or posters in the elevator lobbies, for example. Instead, use a combination of the following ideas to spread the news about your projects:

* Internal newsletters, including articles and special editions, are valuable ways to impart information, such as parking lot and entrance changes, areas and schedules for renovations, service and room relocations, limitations of services during the work, and other updates

* Storyboard displays located in lobbies, near cafeterias, and at walk-in entrances provide a pictorial chronicle of the your projects and related activities

* Signs and maps are necessary to redirect vehicular and pedestrian traffic; look at both internal and external sign requirements based on a project's schedule

* Coordinate advanced notification to emergency workers (e.g, fire authorities, police, and ambulance crews), vendors, and delivery service employees with your hospital's security team

* E-mails and other electronic updates via your hospital's intranet help bolster communication about a project

* Your hospital's public Web site can alert both employees and people in your community about your project's progress

* Managers are excellent resources to provide updates during shift changes or at other times as needed, based on the type of project and its location

• E-mail to a Colleague
• Print
• RSS
• Archive