Important themes emerged throughout the programming process:
Systemness: The program represents a significant shift from a single-hospital system to a multi-hospital system was the common thread. Classifying this theme as systemness, IMH helped TMH view the new hospital as a first major step in transitioning from a single hospital mindset to a multi-hospital system mindset.
Technology Advancement: A deep dive into technology was fundamental to the program. Looking at a shared EHR, interoperability, shared data, and a shared IT team will allow the new greenfield hospital to function efficiently while retaining the technology advances seen at the Tallahassee campus. Bringing in the best technology allows the new building to be wired for the future and create beneficial process efficiencies in a tight labor market.
Economies of Scale: Together, IMH and the TMH team considered the efficiencies and economies of scale that come from the systemness of a multi-hospital system. Doing so allowed TMH to determine where they could leverage organizational design and reporting structures such as sharing of job functions, job roles, automation, and other processes to provide the highest quality healthcare services efficiently. Areas that could benefit from system-level centralization include supply chain, human resources, finance and accounting, patient scheduling and registration, philanthropy, and administration.
The IMH functional programming process helped TMH to right-size departments, services, and square footages by developing a system operations mentality. Through this process, the program reflects a healthcare system grounded in flexibility, automation, and shared processes and job roles/functions. Moving forward, TMH will continue to prioritize a systemness mindset to ensure the success of its entire healthcare organization.
Between December 2022 and March 2023, Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare (TMH) partnered with IMH Healthcare (IMH) to develop a Functional Program for a new healthcare campus in Panama City Beach, Florida. Together, we created a Functional Program for the inpatient acute-care hospital on the new Panama City Beach campus to meet the needs of the community and healthcare providers.
IMH led a series of highly structured, targeted Programming workshops. In the first, the TMH executive team developed guiding principles tied to their organizational pillars. These guiding principles were the bedrock on which the project team built the Functional Program.
Christy brings more than 13 years of healthcare expertise to IMH Healthcare and is committed to achieving a healthier future through efficient and effective operational planning, programming, and change management. She’s coached 20+ teams on crucial change initiatives and developed a successful patient move plan for 150-216 patients.
With an ICU, hospital operations and clinical IS leadership background, Chris brings critical insights into the IMH Healthcare planning process, helping him provide a patient and clinician centric focus throughout the project lifecycle. Chris successfully led Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare’s clinical and leadership teams in developing a Functional Program for a 280,000 SF, $185M greenfield hospital in Panama City Beach, FL.
Sheila is a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt who offers 20+ years of healthcare experience. She has led facility planning, staff readiness, and transition planning for a replacement hospital, a new inpatient tower, and remodeled outpatient facilities. She was also published in the Indianapolis Business Journal: November 15, 2024, The vital role of rural health care — a call to action
Healthcare organizations bring IMH in when the stakes are too high for plans that look right on paper but fall apart in practice. If you’re responsible for what happens when the doors open (or for closing the gap between what was planned and what’s actually happening) we’d like to have that conversation.
