News

Equip Your Healthcare Facility for Next Year’s Tornado Season

6/1/2021

Though we’re almost in the clear this year, it’s never too early to start preparing for next year, as a thorough emergency preparedness plan takes a good deal of time, effort and talent.  Learn the three steps healthcare facilities should take now to ensure staff can act quickly during the next tornado season – a time when every second counts.

How to Consider Energy in Planning, Design, and Construction

5/8/2021

Efficiency is often an afterthought in many PDC practices. To ensure existing and new facilities alike are poised for long-term success, efficiency must be integrated.

Taking on Tornado Season: Is Your Healthcare Facility Prepared?

4/19/2021

Tornado season is from February to March in the South and April to June in the Plains and Midwest. It is an annual occurrence that healthcare facilities must be protected against and prepared for, and this year is no exception. Learn the three steps healthcare facilities should take now to ensure staff can act quickly at a time when every second counts.

Health system facilities representatives say lessons learned from COVID-19 will affect construction.

4/15/2021

For health systems wanting to build facilities post-COVID-19, there will be more design and engineering aspects to consider than ever.

The Role of Emergency Management in COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution

2/26/2021

Thanks to the tireless work of dedicated scientists with Pfizer, Moderna and many others, we now have a vaccine that is about 95% effective in protecting us against COVID-19. So far, 18.4 million shots have been given in the U.S. (about 4.5% of the population), the majority administered to frontline workers and vulnerable elderly populations. While we’ll still have “social distancing” in our vernacular for some time, the COVID-19 vaccine is a medical breakthrough and a crucial step in the right direction to end the pandemic. 

COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Checklist for Facility Managers

2/17/2021

As COVID-19 vaccine trials progressed and were ultimately approved, healthcare facility service providers and emergency management (EM) teams were able to put together step-by-step plans on what a COVID vaccination plan would look like. 

Now, with a vaccine available, in order to successfully distribute it in a timely and efficient manner, vaccine distribution plans should feature the following checklists: 

The Role of Emergency Management in COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution

2/11/2021

As healthcare facility teams learned during the H1N1 outbreak of 2009, the virus would be combatted with the urgent rollout of a vaccine. Many healthcare facilities, hospitals and pharmacies were left to wonder: How will we receive and distribute the vaccine? How will we reassure the public of its safety and effectiveness? How can we build a proper plan and adhere to it? Answering these questions is no easy task, but with emergency management, the answers are within reach.

Modular Construction in Healthcare: Preparations, Advantages and Challenges

1/20/2021

The $400 billion healthcare construction industry has seen its fair share of change over the years. From new materials and the latest technological advances to updated building standards set by the Facility Guidelines Institute and reviewed by The Joint Commission, healthcare construction is constantly evolving. While many trends in the industry come and go, pre-fabrication and modular construction – one of the biggest trends in healthcare today – is here to stay.

How facilities can prepare for flu season amidst COVID-19

12/24/2020

In 2017, the British Medical Journal published a report stating that healthcare facilities around the world are “woefully unprepared for the next infectious disease outbreak.”  Three years later, and COVID-19 needs no introduction. The virus has ravaged the United States this past year. But while COVID-19 has been unpredictable, the one thing we can count on this year is something we’d rather not: The annual flu season. 

The Benefits of Modular Construction

12/11/2020

The $400 billion healthcare construction industry has seen its fair share of change over the years. From new materials and the latest technological advances to updated building standards set by the Facility Guidelines Institute and reviewed by The Joint Commission, healthcare construction is constantly evolving. While many trends in the industry come and go, pre-fabrication and modular construction – one of the biggest trends in healthcare today – is here to stay.

IAEMSC Announces Election Results

12/2/2020

Scott Cormier, Vice President of Emergency Management and Safety for Medxcel was elected to the Board of Directors of IAEMSC.  The International Association of EMS Chiefs (IAEMSC) is a nonprofit professional association established to support, promote and advance the leadership of response entities and to advocate for the EMS profession. 

A Continuous Assessment: Understanding Compliance During New Construction

11/12/2020

Just as healthcare professionals must remain nimble in light of new medical research, healthcare facilities, too, must keep pace with rapid changes in code compliance, neighborhood health, sustainability and energy management. Code compliance is particularly crucial during new construction. If a new facility doesn’t meet compliance on a foundational level, the steps to correct the issue could be detrimental to the timeline and budget of the project – not to mention the safety of the workers.

How Facilities Can Prepare for Flu Season Amidst COVID-19

10/28/2020

We don’t yet know the impact the flu will have on the world this year. As Scientific Americannoted earlier this year, flu season could increase or even double the burden on healthcare facilities during COVID-19. Or, Americans’ healthy handwashing and social distancing habits could actually lessen the burden. Regardless, healthcare facilities must be prepared for the worst-case scenario. Here’s how your facility should prepare this flu season. 

Hospital resiliency during a pandemic—Expert Insights

10/20/2020

Healthcare providers have always been concerned about resiliency and preparedness for when disaster strikes and technology disrupts. But the global pandemic has created some unprecedented challenges that have providers rethinking what resiliency means in a hospital environment and how to achieve it.  Michael Wood, VP of Planning, Design and Construction with the US healthcare facilities service provider Medxcel will discuss his approach.

Common Myths In Healthcare Construction Management

9/28/2020

Every healthcare profession has its own set of myths, and the healthcare construction industry is no exception. Learn the truth about the four most common healthcare construction management myths:

The Importance of Employee Engagement, In and Out of a Crisis

9/23/2020

It may not be feasible to establish a formal employee engagement program while your organization contends with COVID-19, but there are some informal steps you can take to encourage and foster engagement, even now.

How to Prepare for a Natural Disaster During a Pandemic

9/18/2020

While the number of cases has begun to trend downward, new crises are moving to the forefront of facility directors’ minds: wildfires and hurricanes. As clinicians focus on patients, it is the facilities teams that must be prepared for multiple disasters that could strike. How can hospitals juggle all these crises at once?   

DCH facilities management team receives award

9/11/2020

The Medxcel facilities management team at Daviess Community Hospital recently received the FMOS award which is given to organizations with a regulatory compliance rate of 95% or higher. DCH is one of only 20 organizations across the country to receive this award.

FTEs in health care: It’s not one-size-fits-all

9/8/2020

It’s no secret that healthcare facilities have struggled with finding the right balance of full-time employees (FTEs) on staff, especially now that the current global pandemic has made things even more complicated. Figuring out how to balance, and re-balance, the number of active employees is a tricky situation, especially when emergencies occur. 

Preparing for a Hurricane in the Middle of a Pandemic

8/28/2020

We are experiencing two crises at once: healthcare and hurricanes. How can our hospitals continue to fight on the frontlines of COVID-19 when one hurricane can upend everything?