TENET – MEDPOST URGENT CARE CLINICS

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IDENTIFIED CHALLENGES

Recognizing the increasingly important role that urgent care can have in a health system’s viability, Tenet Healthcare set its sights on opening 50 facilities in three years. Such a goal would require services well beyond the capacity of its own construction department. But among the possible approaches, what would work best for the monumental task of getting 50 urgent care facilities built on schedule? How could challenges like the following be overcome?

  1. Vet and manage dozens of different architect and contracting firms for 50 different projects in 8 states
  2. Find a way to move contracts through Tenet’s understandably rigorous legal process, which can sometimes take months for a single project
  3. Minimize the time demands of designing and customizing 50 facilities in 50 different markets
  4. Ensure the company brand would consistently—and compellingly—come through in every facility

APPROACH / OUTCOME

To achieve their urgent care goal, Tenet was open to approaches beyond conventional design-bid-build. ERDMAN introduced the idea of an integrated project delivery system, which would mean one firm providing the planning, architecture, engineering, and construction services for all 50 facilities. That approach ultimately allowed a series of key speed-to-market factors to emerge:

  1. Shorter time to construction with a single firm leading the major disciplines, which eliminated the vetting and management demands for each facility
  2. Faster legal approvals by establishing a single master contract for all 50 facilities, with each individual project requiring only a two-page addendum
  3. Reduced front-end design time thanks to a detailed playbook, the result of an intense four-day meeting that established the standards for all facilities’ layouts, finishes, materials, MEP—everything down to the door hinges
  4. Consistent branding for all facilities—in design, aesthetics, and patient experience—made much easier by Tenet communicating with a single firm

All 50 facilities were completed within the targeted three years. Around the country today, staff at Tenet’s new national brand of MedPost Urgent Care facilities are now providing state-of-the-art care to consumers who want convenient access for their immediate health concerns.

Quick Facts

  1. 3 year national urgent care deployment strategy
  2. Prototype and standards development
  3. 50 new facilities in 8 different states
  4. Projects included new freestanding buildings and repurposing of retail spaces
  5. 2,500 – 6,000 SF facilities; includes lab, exam rooms and x-ray
  6. Completed: May 2016