They blew the horns…and the walls came down!

Continuing our intermittent discussion about returning to normalcy on the facilities operations front, I’ve been reflecting on the monumental amount of facility modifications that have occurred over the last 15-18 months and what those modifications might portend for the future. I’ve seen all matter of materials used to facilitate containment of patient care units and I was wondering, now that there is lessening need for a lot of these temporary structures, if folks have been thinking about how they would “do it again next time” as they deconstruct the temporary walls. In some instances, I’m sure we’ve had loads of fun removing tape residue from various surfaces (where would we be without tape!?!) and perhaps gone back to review those pesky ILSMs that sprouted up over time. I’m still not sure how ILSM assessment will “play” with the 1135 waivers: Are they required, are they not, are they in the “eye of the beholder”?

At any rate, I’m hoping that somewhere in the hive mind of your organization there is a clear picture of what modifications were made on the fly, which prompted me to do a little poking around on the interwebs regarding the practical application of temporary barriers and I ran across this, which (if you’ve not seen it) I think you’ll find useful as a thought provoker (provocateur?).

Clearly, we are all about wanting to do things better and I think the questions/concerns/considerations raised in the article are definitely worthy of conversation as we plan for the next event. The “good” thing about temporary containment is we don’t have to wait for the next pandemic to get familiar with the modular concept. There are likely going to be construction and renovation projects coming your way and what better “test market” for containment?

So, that’s it for this week. I continue to hope that the true onset of summer will provide some level of opportunity for down time. The older I get, the more I appreciate the “beauty” of time off—even if it’s time off for home projects. Just to be able to focus on stuff that’s not related to “work” is pretty awesome—try it—you’ll like it!

Wishing you wellness and safety!

About the Author: Steve MacArthur is a safety consultant with The Greeley Company in Danvers, Mass. He brings more than 30 years of healthcare management and consulting experience to his work with hospitals, physician offices, and ambulatory care facilities across the country. He is the author of HCPro's Hospital Safety Director's Handbook and is contributing editor for Healthcare Safety Leader. Contact Steve at stevemacsafetyspace@gmail.com.