Opening Day Set Grand Opening ceremonies will be Wednesday, July 22

Neither wind, nor rain, nor gloom of night, nor mounds of mud, nor weary workers, nor contrary codes can delay opening day for our new ambulatory care center. We've committed to smashing the customary champagne bottle against the building on Wednesday, July 22. That day we'll also have presentations, open-house tours, media walk-throughs, and one big sigh of relief as our army of planners, designers, workers, supervisors, suppliers and project managers steps across the finish line together.

Opening events & move-in

The following three days (July 23, 24 and 25) will feature more opening events, giving everyone a chance to show off their facilities and begin getting used to the new systems.

After these events our plans call for the clinical modules to close in preparation for a huge, carefully orchestrated move-in operation with activities running round-the-clock. Schedules are under development and professional moving services are being recruited.

Experience with move-ins at other institutions tells us that this “blitz” method is the best way to go. It's the least disruptive to clinic schedules, keeps clinics closed for the shortest time and is the most efficient way to get such a complex facility on its feet all at once. But it won't be easy, and even after everyone is moved, there will still be issues to settle. No matter how hard you try to explain, patients will have trouble finding their way to parking, walkways, clinic floors and support facilities—so we're preparing people and signage to help them.

We're also making preparations for other likely contingencies: system glitches, equipment problems and additional system start-up issues.

Inspections & paperwork

Most of the actual construction will be completed by mid-June, but there will still be plenty of work to do—the mass of red tape that supports this building project is nearly as big as the tower itself. The four weeks before opening day will be reserved for final inspections and licensing procedures, working with the many officials who need to sign off on the project prior to occupancy. These reviews will result in punchlists to be completed before our certificate of occupancy is received.

Who's doing what?

You wouldn't believe the range of decisions that need to be made for a facility like MUSC Rutledge Tower to start humming on the first day of operation. That's why teams of people have been assigned to sort through the questions and negotiate solutions with everyone who has to live with the final choices. Building Operations and Clinical Operations are a couple of good examples. Here's a quick, behind-the-scenes look at the nitty-gritty of facility management:

Building Operations Committee How would you like to open your clinic doors and realize you can't get air-conditioning to work, your phone calls transferred, or your equipment plugged in? What if the parking gate won't open for your patients, your mail doesn't show up and your computers keep crashing?

Preventing those nightmares from happening is the job of the Building Operations committee. Headed by Sandra Wade and John Sutusky, this group is making sure every system our clinic and hospital people rely on will work:

• Communications
• Computer networks and operating software
• Physical plant q Mail systems, parking and trans- portation
• Food services, security, public safety and much more.

They're also working to ensure a smooth transition during the building activation process. That means arranging training for new systems, testing everything from hot water to electrical outlets, and double-checking with personnel from the Mail Service, Physical Plant, CCIT, and a dozen other important support functions.

Clinical Operations Committee How do we make sure staffing levels are appropriate for the anticipated patient volume in a given clinic area? How do we make sure records arrive before the patients do? Who reviews how ancillary services in Rutledge Tower (like pharmacy and labs) will divide up the work with their main hospital counterparts? What about service standards, like how long a clinic can reasonably keep a patient waiting for an appointment? And what about the emergency systems that are necessary in a large ambulatory care facility?

These are some of the decisions pondered by the Clinical Operations Committee, a group co-chaired by Dave Neff and Pam Cipriano. Their work often overlaps with the Building Operations Committee as they review plans for things like clinical equipment, staffing, parking space allocation for disabled patients, communications systems throughout the building, and daily operations ranging from transporting lab samples to handling patient emergencies.

Another big part of their work involves the upcoming move-in operation. Committee members have assessed which of the 35 clinics' thousands of pieces of furniture and equipment are worth moving from the Clinical Science Building and Medical Center to Rutledge Tower. They're also ordering new equipment and furnishing wherever necessary. Then there' the job of making sure the data ports, electrical voltages and physical spaces are appropriate for everything from operating room lights to blood analyzers.

July 22: Quite a Day in History

Wednesday, July 22, will be opening day for MUSC Rutledge Tower. We'll host an open house, orientation tours, media events and other celebrations in our brand new facility. Coincidentally, a lot happened on this date in history. Just for fun, here's a glimpse at a few notable events on July 22:

1376 The Pied Piper of Hamelin rid his town of rats, charming them with his music and marching them into the Weser River. When the town refused to pay his bill legend that he “piped” the children out of town too, never to be seen again.

1926 Babe Ruth caught a baseball dropped from an airplane. The plane was traveling at about 100 miles-per -hour, hundreds of feet up. As the cowhide hit Ruth's glove, the “Bambino” reportedly said, “Eeeeeoooowwwccccchhh!”

1933 Wiley Post finished his first round the world flight. Piloting the Winnie May, he traveled 15,596 miles in a little over a week.

1934 John Dillinger, Public Enemy Number One, was gunned down by federal agents outside the Biograph Theater in Chicago.

1990 Greg LeMond won his third Tour de France. He outdistanced all other cyclists by finishing in 90 hours, 43 minutes and 20 seconds. His time was a little slower than his past wins.

Questions and Answers

Q: Once it is opened and running, will Rutledge Tower be accessible after hours and on weekends?

A: There will be a public safety officer stationed at the building around the clock, so anyone who needs occasional after-hours access can get in. For those who need regular access, there will be an electronic card-entry system similar to the one used at the Strom Thurmond Building. To determine who needs these electronic access cards (for security reasons, we're trying to keep this number small), the clinical department heads will be asked to give the names of people who will visit the building regularly after normal business hours. These requests forms should be in the mail by mid-April. If you need access, please discuss it with your department head soon.

Q: Is it true that in order to comply with fire codes, work on the induction units in some clinics is required and might cause a delay in the project's completion?

A: It was ruled that most heat-air induction units on floors two through six require fire dampers to comply with current codes. Our architect, engineer, contractor and scheduler are working out a method to perform this work without causing delays in occupancy. This installation process will be yet another upgrade to further ensure the safety of building occupants.