Hospital and healthcare FF&E

Healthcare construction is built in phases, and the furniture follows the same phases. A wing opens while another is still behind plastic sheeting, and an inpatient floor cannot take a delivery at the wrong hour. A move partner for this work has to be organized, on time and quiet, and has to be able to hold a large order until the building says go.

At a glance

• Phased delivery to wings and floors
• Storage in a 30,000 square foot warehouse
• Installation by room type
• Evening and weekend crews by arrangement

What healthcare FF&E includes

The list is long. Waiting-room seating, patient-room furniture, nurse-station casework, exam-room tables, break-room pieces, administrative offices and storage furniture all count as FF&E. Medical devices are usually supplied and set up by their own vendors, so your project manager decides which items O'Brien's handles and which stay with the vendor. Put that split in writing at the estimate.

Phasing a delivery

A healthcare opening is rarely one date. Departments come online in a sequence set by licensing, inspections and staffing. The warehouse step lets the whole order arrive at once and leave in stages: the first floor this month, the next wing when it is released.

Mark each item with its department and room on the order list, so the staging in the warehouse matches the floor plan and the crew does not search for pieces on delivery day.

Hours, access and quiet

Occupied buildings set their own rules for dock times, elevators and noise. Commercial crews work evenings, weekends and holidays by arrangement, which fits facilities that want deliveries outside patient traffic. Give the estimator the dock hours, elevator reservations and any badge or check-in steps before the plan is written.

Getting an estimate

Call the office on a weekday between 8 am and 5 pm. Bring the FF&E schedule, the floor plan or room list, the vendor ship dates and the dates each department opens. The estimator puts the plan in writing, itemized, so your purchasing office can review it.

Related pages: the FF&E overview, senior-living FF&E for care communities, and on-site move management for jobs that need a lead on the ground.