Author: Lindsey Ulrich
How do you move an entire hospital? That question was on people’s minds as McLaren Greater Lansing was days away from their historic move on March 6 from the Greenlawn Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue campuses to the all-new health care campus at 2900 Collins Road in Lansing.
The new campus, now open, includes a 240-bed acute care hospital, trauma level III stroke center and emergency department, Karmanos Cancer Institute, outpatient care center, and Health and Wellness Pavilion.
“The planning of this project was years in the making, from initial planning to the execution when we broke ground over three years ago,” said Kirk Ray, President and CEO, McLaren Greater Lansing. “A lot of preparation has gone into ensuring not only the building was ready, but our staff was ready to care for our patients in our new home. I am extremely proud of our staff and the hard work they have put in to make sure the move was successful.”
While finishing touches happened on the building itself, clinicians and staff started to train at the new facility in January 2022, including tours, day in the life training scenarios, and mock patient moves to get familiar with the new space and processes for move day.
“Preparations for the move spanned over several months. We gathered input from staff members and clinicians to ensure a smooth transition,” said Deb Leblanc, Chief Nursing Officer at McLaren Greater Lansing.
McLaren Greater Lansing hired Health Care Relocations (HCR), which specializes in the coordinated planning and physical relocation of hospitals and other healthcare facilities, for the move.
Teams were assigned and identified with colored vests for move day. These teams included, but not limited to:
- Command center: The main point of contact and to handle decisions that required
immediate attention.
- Command center support: This included I.T., facilities management, and bio-medical.
- Patient senders and receivers: Primary contacts for each patient as they left the old facility and arrived at the new facility.
- Lift team: Aided with patient transfers, supplies, and equipment.
- Porter team: Assisted with moving patients on stretchers and wheelchairs.
- Transfer care team: Made up of Registered Nurses and Physicians.
- Respiratory therapy (RT) team: Provided support for patients in need of respiratory assistance and oxygen.
- Clean team: Staff assigned to wipe down and sanitize all furniture and equipment before and after the move.
On Sunday, March 6, at 6 a.m., the emergency department opened at the new location while the Greenlawn Avenue emergency department closed. At 7 a.m., McLaren Greater Lansing met with hospital and moving staff to kick off move day. The first patients were then transferred to the new hospital with all patients safely transferred in approximately six hours. 112 patients were moved in the process with the use of 14 ambulances, provided by Medstar, and three buses donated by Dean Transportation.
“We are very pleased with how the move day went as all patients were safely transferred to the new facility faster than our expected timeframe,” said Leblanc. “The staff did a tremendous job working together as a team to ensure everything could go as smoothly as possible.”
Leblanc reflected on what this move means to not only the future of McLaren Greater Lansing, but what it brings with.
“Although there are lot of memories and history at the old facilities, there’s a legacy here and we are building on that legacy by bringing extraordinary care over to the new campus,” said Leblanc.