Communication is the key to procuring equipment used in healthcare when it comes to medical construction projects, especially when Owner Furnished, Contractor Installed (OFCI) Group 1 equipment is involved.
This complex healthcare equipment procurement case study demonstrates how CME’s proactive communication and collaboration with customers and vendors streamlines the procurement process. It will also show how our logistics, delivery, installation, and biomedical teams ensure the seamless delivery of medical equipment.
The Project
On November 16, 2021, the University of California, Irvine and UCI Health announced they had broken ground on a $1.3B medical complex. By early 2022 we were in conversation with UCI and third equipment planners about procurement of healthcare equipment for the 225,000 square foot Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and Ambulatory Care building.
From the beginning we leveraged our focused medical equipment expertise and assisted with the creation of the product specifications list as well as standardization of the equipment planned for the facility by providing samples for UCI’s mock showroom warehouse.
Our quote encompassed 80% of the product specification list, over 4500 pieces of equipment across 425 different product categories.
In addition to managing the procurement of healthcare equipment across multiple manufacturers, our project management team plays a critical role in coordinating the timely delivery and assembly of OFCI healthcare equipment.
Against the backdrop of tight timelines and stringent regulatory requirements, we serve as an extension of the UCI team with logistics that have not only been customized to the needs of the contactor(s) but are also flexible enough to accommodate the unexpected and unique asks that are part of a construction project of this magnitude.
"This project, and every project I am a part of, would not be successful without the support that I have internally at CME. From the Customer Service team entering the orders, to my dedicated Project Manager, to the Purchasing team, over to the Warehouse and Receiving team, and finally the Direct-To-Site Services team and installers. It takes a village to make a project of this size successful and at CME you get it all."
Matt Poyma, Southern California Account Manager
Project Management – The Ace up the Sleeve
Our project management (PM) team is comprised of professionals dedicated to this project, from start to finish. They are the central point of contact and are responsible for proactively communicating with the contractors, 3rd party equipment planner, Mazzetti GBA, UCI representatives, and internal CME teams. This continuous level of communication is essential for the seamless coordination of all healthcare equipment related aspects of this complex medical construction project.
Beginning in the early construction stage of the project, our PMs implemented the following communication strategies:
Weekly Tracker Reports: Send weekly tracking reports to key stakeholders and facilitate weekly phone calls with the equipment planner.
The tracking reports include information about the status of OFCI and CME sourced items stored in our warehouse, the location of items delivered to the site, and the assembly status of the healthcare equipment.
Communication with the Warehouse Logistic Team: The PM maintains open communication with the warehouse logistics team to plan delivery of OFCI and CME procured equipment within the strict delivery windows as well as to coordinate those deliveries around the schedules of other vendors on site.
Our teams have demonstrated their flexibility with days starting as early as 3am to load trucks that arrived after hours the day before.
Communication with the Direct-to-Site (DTS) Delivery Team: Open communication with the DTS team ensures critical scheduling and delivery location instructions from the contractors and UCI representatives are forwarded to the delivery teams.
Logistics & Direct-to-Site Delivery and Installation – Innovation and Flexibility in Action
CME’s logistics, direct-to-site delivery, and installation services are one of a kind within the healthcare industry. Our logistics and DTS teams do it all … receive direct and CME sourced healthcare equipment to the warehouse, off-site staging, inside delivery, disbursement, and wall mounting.
Warehousing: Storing 4,500 individual pieces of healthcare equipment, including OFCI items, for a single project requires warehousing flexibility. For this project we strategically allocated warehouse space to accommodate the wide variety of equipment and eliminate the need for UCI to source and staff additional warehouse space.
Delivery and Installation: As the facility neared completion and floors were being put down, we installed temporary floor protection throughout the building to prevent damage cause by the hand trucks used to transport equipment to rooms for installation or scuffs from the work boots worn by the construction and delivery crews operating on site.
As with any construction site, “parking” areas at the new Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center and Ambulatory Care facility will not be paved until closer to the time they begin treating patients. To prevent damage to the equipment being delivered before paving, DTS teams placed plywood over the more rugged and uneven sections of the area to reduce jostling of the truck.
To help streamline the workflows of the contractors, our DTS teams deliver assembled Group 1 equipment to the service locations within the facility ready for the contractor to anchor and/or install. This added level of service eliminates the time-consuming steps of retrieving the pallets of unassembled equipment from the central receiving dock, transporting them to the proper locations, and preparing them for installation.
Collaboration, Flexibility, Innovation, and Passion – the Core of Success
The collaboration, flexibility, innovation, and passion for excellence of all CME’s teams supporting the new UCI ACC facility have culminated in the successful and timely delivery and installation of medical equipment by agreed upon dates. In one week alone, we delivered 30 17’ trucks of equipment to the new facility.
Many healthcare equipment distributors can source quality medical equipment at competitive prices, but only one specializes exclusively in equipment for healthcare, offers comprehensive project management, white-glove delivery and installation, biomedical services, and is truly a one-stop shop.
CME Corp. is the only one… nationwide.
Helping new medical facilities open on time is one of our passions.
About CME: CME Corp is the nation’s premier source for healthcare equipment, turnkey logistics, and biomedical services, representing 2 million+ products from more than 2,000 manufacturers. With two corporate offices and 35+ service centers, our mission is to help healthcare facilities nationwide reduce the cost of the equipment they purchase, make their equipment specification, delivery, installation, and maintenance processes more efficient, and help them seamlessly launch, renovate and expand on schedule.
