The traditional healthcare facility has many departments involved in the administration and management of the organization in accordance with policies established by the governing board. Most of these administrative services use generic office space with a mix of private offices, open or partially-enclosed cubicles, and open workstations to accommodate different hierarchies of staff dictated by the organizational structure and peak-shift staffing. Patient traffic to these areas is rare. As many of these departments are being forced to resize their staff in response to cost containment pressures and changing skill requirements, vacant offices and workstations are often scattered throughout the organization. At times, growing departments may need to pack multiple people into a single office, while shrinking departments have surplus space. Many departments also have dedicated conference rooms which, although infrequently used, are not available for use by other hospital staff due to an inaccessible location.
Space for administrative staff ― not involved in day-to-day patient care ― is increasingly being centralized into generic administrative office suites with a central reception area, groups of conference rooms, shared office equipment, and flexible workstations. This configuration provides the most efficient space utilization and ensures that space is equitably allocated and distributed among the departments and services that need it at any given time. The intent is to assign offices and workstations according to the immediate need allowing for the flexibility to reassign the space on a periodic basis as demand changes and staffing levels fluctuate. This prevents staff from becoming overly territorial about their space. With more sophisticated information systems, space can still be charged to department or cost center budgets based on use. Conference rooms and classrooms can be scheduled centrally based on daily demand thus ensuring optimal utilization.
The abrupt closure of many offices and workplaces during the global pandemic in the spring of 2020 ushered in a new era of remote work for millions of employed Americans ─ including hospital administrative staff. Video conferencing also replaced face-to-face meetings to allow social distancing, and these trends are predicted to outlast the current emergency health crisis. This will likely impact the amount and configuration of administrative office space and the need for conference rooms and large meeting spaces in the future.
This article is an update of a previous post.