Shodair receives grant to help with construction of new hospital
November 10, 2022
A Space Montana Children Deserve
July 29, 2023
Making Moves: Transitioning into Our New Building
In just a few short days, current Shodair patients will make the momentous 15-step walk to their new home. Warm, embracing colors met with wide open areas will welcome each of them in, one by one – natural light following in their footsteps as they make their way across a red-carpet entrance and into hope-filled spaces designed just for them. And, yet, though the newness will take some time to settle, this won’t be the first time that patients, or staff, will have seen the new building. In fact, Shodair’s hospital transition process began ten months ago – far before our new home was ever complete.
While day-to-day care has remained mission focused and ever steady, behind the scenes, our staff and providers have been planning for every detail of our big move since early last year. From long-term operating processes and legal certifications to the real-time logistics of physically moving patients from one building to another, Transition Consultant Eric Schnebly at JL Transitions has been diligently preparing our team for what he likes to call “day-one success.”
“Our goal is to ensure that day one in the new building is just like any other day at Shodair,” said Eric. “That’s why we start so far in advance. We meet with the team and work through the details from a high level down, thinking through different workflows and refining the plan as we move further along.”
Photo credit: Independent Record
What exactly does preparing for day one look like?
For our staff, it’s included countless building walkthroughs and extensive training sessions – each time wrestling with and finding effective solutions to daily routines such as locating the necessary equipment, how to move patients up and down the stairs, where to go in case of an emergency, and how to incorporate the new physical elements of our building, like a sensory wall and sound-proof gymnasium.
“Change is hard, and we know that,” said Mikel Allen, Manager of Learning and Development at Shodair. “This has been a large undertaking, with several moving parts, and a lot of people across the organization stepping up to help ensure that we are successful. We are quickly approaching our move day and more than 95% of our staff have already completed the initial training that is needed.”
Shodair employees aren’t the only ones ready for the big move! While our staff has been hard at work building the logistical framework of the move, our patients have had a front row seat to the construction process itself – growing increasingly enthusiastic as they’ve watched on from their bedroom windows. Though patients won’t physically experience the interior of the space until move-in day, each patient has had the opportunity to familiarize themselves with Shodair’s new home – viewing renderings of individual rooms, common areas, meeting spaces, and fun additions like the Hope Space, smudge room, and reflection space. To help ease the transition on patients, our team has been in touch with families, establishing a day-of communication plan to keep parents informed every step of the way.
“Shodair has a great team of people working toward a unified goal of moving into a new, beautiful facility,” said Eric. “But it’s really the drive of the employees at Shodair wanting to make a great experience for the kids that makes my job enjoyable.”
And that’s exactly what keeps us going! While a successful “day one” began months ago with our internal team, on January 31st, as patients make their way over to a new facility – built and held up by hundreds of supporters across Montana – the true measure of success will not be found in our input, but rather in the day-of care and growth of those we fight for every day: Our patients.
From genetics to youth psychiatric care, Shodair is building hope for Montana families, and you can help! While our new hospital is almost complete, there’s still work to be done – $2 million to be exact. Join our mission to heal, help, and inspire hope by giving to our building project, Hope Takes Flight, today! Learn more and get involved at shodair.org.
