Lucille Packard Children’s Hospital: Solving a Capacity Problem to Sustain Care

By dialing up occupant density and hours of use per day, the hospital was able to realize compound benefits in capturing otherwise underutilized square footage.

In 2008, the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital (LPCH) needed a strategy to address its 12% capacity deficit without compromising patient care and staff well-being.

Built 17 years prior, the hospital had outgrown its 250,000 -square foot facility. It faced an immediate need for 30,000 net square feet of tertiary and quaternary care space. While construction of a new hospital was underway, it would not be complete for another 15 years. Building and zoning codes precluded any additions to the existing facility. Finances stipulated the solution have an amortization schedule of less than 10 years.

LPCH needed a viable strategy to resolve its capacity crunch quickly and within budget.

In-depth facilities and use assessment identified underutilized and underoccupied spaces and areas for non-critical functions that could be recaptured for medical use. This study informed a multi-pronged strategy. Right-sizing rooms, improving space utilization, and relocating non-critical functions off-site recaptured the necessary 30,000 net square feet and avoided $30 million in construction completed over only 22-months.

Read the case study here.

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