Innovating for the future

In healthcare it's not a cliché to say that every second counts. The time it takes for a heart attack victim to get to the emergency room is critical. The time it takes for a surgeon to successfully transplant a new kidney is crucial. The time it takes for a newborn in respiratory distress to get to the NICU is a matter of life or death.

There are also decisions in the life of a hospital, however, that must stretch far beyond the immediate emergencies of day-to-day operations. They must serve the organization's patients and medical personnel, decades into the future.

Working with Shands, Flad responded to both of these scenarios with innovative, thoughtful solutions.

When Shands could not keep up with patient care demands, the need was urgent. Immediately, a new replacement healthcare campus was proposed. Located across the street from the existing hospital, it added capacity quickly.

Simultaneously, Flad examined long-range operational concerns for the organization. A forward-looking master plan to help Shands build and grow strategically in the future was devised. It outlined a multi-phased building program provide 1,200 in-patient beds, outpatient services, parking structures, a central utility plant, and commercial spaces, organized around a central healing garden.