Challenge

The project objective was to add a radiation oncology program to an existing medical oncology program. The challenge was that the development of the project needed to occur without access to clinical/physician end users (who had not yet been recruited). The project schedule required that the space design and equipment planning proceed without waiting for the staff to be recruited and available.

Success

Northstar's experience with specialty healthcare projects (in this case particularly medical equipment planning/procurement/management), combined with researching best practices implemented in other regions of the health system, allowed the equipment selection and facility design to proceed and schedule maintained. Once the staff was recruited, they were oriented to equipment and space design decision logic to create common ownership and allow them to prepare the program's operational procedures in time for opening. In addition, through the application of a careful change management process, enough budget savings were realized to add a desired High Dose Radiation equipment component to the program.