T

he decision to renovate a facility can strike fear into the hearts of even the most experienced long-term care executives. From blueprints to the unveiling, such a project promises to bring disruptions to the facility while squeezing its finances. But because of recent changes in extended care, especially the growing needs of residents, many facilities must renovate to keep ahead of their competition and maintain a healthy bottom line. It is critical, then, for renovation decisions to be made deliberately and expenditures of time and money to be made wisely.
       ECPN Managing Editor Ryan Dougherty recently discussed strategies for long-term care facility renovation with Kathleen Taylor, Director of Design Services for Eldercare Interiors, a division of Direct Supply, Inc. (Milwaukee, Wis), which can help facilities plan a renovation or new construction from start to finish. The highlights of that discussion follow in a question-and-answer format.

       ECPN: What is the first step a facility should take when planning a renovation?
       Taylor: It is essential to fully prepare for the project. Find out if you need approvals or permits from governing bodies, determine a budget, and set a timeframe. Then select a design partner. In order to do that, the facility needs to understand that not all designers are created equally, and that it is crucial to select a qualified professional. A healthcare designer is often very different from a residential designer. You can’t assume that because someone did a great job on a house he or she can handle a facility renovation. Do your homework up front. Work with someone who understands long-term care. It’s vital in getting the type of result that you need for the project.

       ECPN: What is the next step?
       Taylor: Once you get to the point where you are comfortable with a partner, decide whether to renovate the whole facility at once or in phases. You need to understand how much money you have to spend. Keep in mind the potential building disruption, and consider how will you market the facility. These are the types of internal matters the facility management needs to think about, realistically. A good design partner will help you pick a realistic timeframe. You can’t come in a few weeks before Christmas and declare, “We want to re-do a wing.” The partner helps you get the biggest bang for your buck.

       ECPN: What else should facility management expect from its design partner?
       Taylor: The partner will walk you through steps of what is involved in the project and help you envision what to expect at the end. They should get documents, warranties, maintenance information, flame-spread certificates, etcetera. All of that is part of the purchase price. Often, executives know their facility’s problems, but they don’t know what the solutions are. A good design professional should offer you solutions for maintenance or marketing problems, and it’s important to listen to them. A lot of times, people are afraid to use designers because they think the firm will impose its vision of the building, not what they want. They don’t know what they’ll get. So when selecting a design partner, find someone who listens to you. [Eldercare Interiors] is sure to ask probing types of questions to find out what the problems are. Sometimes facilities know what they are, but if the questioner asks the right questions, he or she might find out that the problems are not what the facility staff thought. People say the dining room needs to be replaced because residents aren’t eating; they want to freshen it up so it looks good and people want to be there. But that may not be the real cause. It may be that it is cold or loud in there. The designer needs to ask the right questions about things like ceiling height and soft surfaces to absorb noise, not just do what someone tells them. They need to go deeper than what the facility management knows, even.

       ECPN: To what extent should the staff members and residents be involved in the process?
       Taylor: It is important to let your residents know about the renovation plans and to get your staff involved. When part of the facility knows what is going on but the workers don’t, it causes tension that filters back to the residents. We’re disrupting their home as it is. Staff members are reticent to work through a renovation, because if they’ve done it before and weren’t prepared, they know it can be a fiasco. But if everyone knows what their responsibilities are, there is a lot less stress all around. But don’t involve too many staff members in the process. There must be one decision maker and no more than 3 people dealing directly with the design partner or else you will have a lot of dissent and indecisiveness.
       Externally, understand that there must be open communication throughout the process. If the design person isn’t doing the construction, the administrator or vice president needs to make sure that any changes in the construction schedule are communicated to the designer. The complete team must be kept appraised. Keep in mind that one side impacts the other side. When everyone has a comfort level with everyone else, the project really comes off much more smoothly.

       ECPN: What are some of the biggest renovation mistakes made by facilities?
       Taylor: You can save yourself a lot of headache by making sure you have accurate architectural plans. The other big one is knowing your budget. You really need to know what you can afford to spend, so that you’re not designing champagne when you’ve got beer pockets. And feel comfortable that you can share that legitimate budget number. If you’ve got $50,000, don’t say you’ve got $25,000. One of the biggest problems [from the perspective of design service firms] is not having plans that are to scale. It always comes back to preparations. Know the physical problems with your building. If you have a leak staining your wall and we cover it up, the problem will come back. These things need to be addressed now.

       ECPN: How has the renovation industry changed in recent years?
       Taylor: People are much smarter now. The process is really a simple one, but the materials we’re using now have become much more sophisticated, as have the facility administrators. They’ve been to seminars and are asking more intelligent questions. As the products and designers become more sophisticated, we can really put a lot issues to rest and not to have to re-do it over and over again. Also, there’s a lot more technology involved. Things that used to be hand-drawn can now be done on CAD [computer-aided design].

       ECPN: How else has technology affected the industry?
       Taylor: The types of residents going in to the facility are a lot different than they were 10 years ago. They might have been computer-literate and using DVD players, so we can’t create facilities that do not give them that access. It’s important to adapt to the type of people who are less institutional and the note things they did when they were on their own. Make sure you build that into a facility—you need to know your audience, given the cost of renovation. You don’t want to build a castle in a cornfield; that’s not what those residents are used to. And you need to know, for instance, what people who lived around a college campus were accustomed to. You need to know the audience to accommodate the needs of the resident.
       You can’t necessarily put the administrator or marketing person’s personal preferences into it. It’s not their home. You have to be mindful of the residents living there. Too often, people say, “I don’t like this color or that fabric,” but maybe it’s selected because the pattern is better for the aging resident or the color allows more light in. It’s important to keep that in mind. It should be to make the residents’ lives and caregivers’ jobs easier, not to mention maintenance. A competent professional will take the many aspects into account. You need to understand maintenance, marketing, and of course the residents. If you don’t design this for them, it’s really a wasted effort.

       For more information, visit http://www.EldercareInteriors.net or call 888-876-0987.