California Assembly Bill 2190 recently required that all hospitals meet building & seismic requirements. This measure presented Hallsta with an opportunity to rise to a new challenge. We began by working with PIH Health at Good Samaritan Hospital in Downtown Los Angeles to ensure that they met every requirement by a fast-approaching deadline. PIH Health Good Samaritan needed to move all services from their old hospital building to the main hospital building, which was seismically compliant. This required several departments to relocate and created a need for new spaces that would update and streamline the process in the newer building.

PIH already had a proposed plan, but with such strict deadlines, the plan needed to be completely redesigned. Hallsta reviewed the feasibility of each project, along with the cost and ability to meet each completion timeline. If the projects exceeded the deadline, PIH would accrue a $10,000 daily fine. Hallsta and management met with HCAI to develop a plan, which required the projects to be reimagined with a different scope and budget. The total cost of design and construction of all parts required for AB2190 compliance would not exceed the Board approved budget. This project took scrutinous planning and an all-hands-on-deck approach from all involved.

The projects under construction included the Management Department, Dietary Department, and Sterile Processing Department. The storage facilities’ construction was closely monitored by using a pull planning strategy as well as an RFI Process scheduled with weekly meetings. This management strategy successfully maintained many continuously moving parts to ensure all major milestones were met. New storage shelving was installed for all necessary departments. A new walk-in freezer, refrigerator, and dry storage space were installed to meet requirements that specified that the hospital would be able to reliably store enough food for all occupants. These new storage facilities met all compliancy requirements and created a well-structured and efficient space.

Projects of this scale on average normally span 6-8 months, but AB2190 deadlines pushed us to complete this project in 4 months. Everyone involved worked around the clock to make this project a success. Hallsta is honored and humbled to be a part of this process and is greatly fulfilled with the lessons learned along the way.