Design proposal · Hospital operations

Central Rehab Offices

Rehab and transport serve every floor. Their home base should sit where the elevators are, not in a basement corner.

Audience
Hospital leadership, facilities
Setting
Hospital operations
Format
Design proposal
Pairs with
Caseload auto-prioritization, Bed QR Codes

The proposal

Problem

Rehab and transport offices often end up in the basement or a far wing, because that's where space was free. Then every trip to a patient starts with a long walk and an elevator wait. Those minutes come out of treatment time and transport response.

Solution

Base rehab and transport on a middle floor, beside the main elevator bank. Where a move isn't possible, add charting stations and equipment storage on the busiest units so staff don't go back to base between patients.

Who gains

Patients get more therapy minutes and faster transport to tests and procedures. Discharges move sooner. Staff spend less of the day in hallways and elevators.

The project · Map and time estimate

Example building · side view

The map

A sample hospital shown in cross-section, so floors and elevators are both visible. Switch between today's office and the proposed one to see each route to the units rehab visits most.

Hospital cross-section with rehab office routes Seven levels from basement to floor 6 with a central elevator bank. Currently the rehab office is in the west end of the basement, so every route runs the full length of the basement, then up the elevators. The proposed office sits on floor 3 next to the elevators. ELEVATORS WEST WING EAST WING Rehab office Rehab office
Current office and route Proposed office Units rehab visits most S = satellite charting station
UnitFrom basementFrom floor 3Saved
Average one-way trip

Minutes per one-way trip, estimated from the map using the walking speed and elevator wait set in the calculator below.

Example estimate

Time lost to walking

These are starting numbers for illustration, not measured data. Change any of them to match a real department; the results update as you type.

–minutes saved per person, per day
–hours saved across the department, per day
–more therapy sessions possible per day
–hours saved per year (250 workdays)

To confirm in a pilot: a one-week time-and-motion study or step counts for a sample of staff, before and after.

Lowest cost first

Options

What to measure

Travel time

Minutes walking and waiting per shift, from a time-and-motion study or step counts.

Treatment minutes

Minutes of therapy delivered per therapist per day.

Transport response

Time from a transport request to pickup.

Delays

Missed or late therapy sessions and discharges held for therapy or transport.

Hospital space is scarce, so the proposal leads with stations and storage and keeps the move as the long-term goal. Built with input from rehab, transport and facilities.