There are two especially challenging phases in constructing a major new hospital wing, says Angel Pallin, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Mount Sinai Medical Center: getting started and getting finished.
Pallin, an engineer by training who has been with Mount Sinai for 23 years, is in the “getting finished” stage of building a $250-million, 216,000-sq.-ft. cancer center. He hopes for a certificate of occupancy by February, meaning these weeks involve hoisting and installing 25,000-pound magnetic resonance imaging machines, CT scanners, linear accelerators and more.
But the heavy lifting won’t be over when the CO is in hand. It’s expected to take another three months for regulators to validate the lab equipment and certify the pharmacy and clean room. The goal is to admit the first patient around May 1.
The checklists can seem endless.
“We hire organizations that do nothing but transition planning to make sure we don’t forget any detail,” Pallin says.
Mount Sinai’s existing center is about 30 years old. The area’s growth, combined with an increase in cancer diagnoses, meant it wasn’t keeping pace with patient demand. In addition, it didn’t have space for some key machinery, sending some patients to the main hospital for imaging or access to the linear accelerator. The new center’s size ensures all cancer care can be under one roof, Pallin says.
Designing a space like this has changed significantly over the years. Hospitals are putting increased emphasis on emotional well-being for patients, their families and hospital staffers. The five-story Irma and Norman Braman Comprehensive Cancer Center will have “respite rooms where either loved ones or a staff member can maybe step away from all the hustle and bustle of the moment if they’re overwhelmed,” Pallin says. An outdoor healing garden overlooking Biscayne Bay also can provide solace.
Therapy rooms will offer art and music activities for patients. But the center also has “shell space” — unfinished areas that later can accommodate emerging technologies that haven’t been dreamed up yet.
Early in Pallin’s career, the hospital endured financial struggles. “It’s great to see it come full circle where now the hospital really is making massive investments in critical areas,” he says.