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Moving day mayhemBy Maggie Rossitier Peterman
When Beaver Dam Community Hospital needed to relocate to a new, smaller, more efficient facility in 2006, there were plenty of obstacles, including cold weather, scheduling and keeping services available throughout the move. Those operations and several other Capital Region businesses have survived their relocations thanks to strong communication, months of planning and preparation and the help of professionals. An enterprising move Rather than pack up a valuable 100-piece art collection in bubble wrap, employees at Chamberlain Research Consultants formed a block-long parade on Aug. 1 to carry sculptures, paintings, framed photographs and colorful Mexican woodcarvings to the company's new 20,000-square-foot office at 660 John Nolen Drive, said Heather Hagenow, 32, director of communications. "That was the day we had a huge tornado warning, torrential rains and flooding," said Hagenow, laughing as she recalled the incident. "Power lines went down on Stoughton Road. But there was a half-hour break about 2:30 p.m." The company's "art cow," named in honor of Ron Dayne, led the way. "It's big and bulky," Hagenow said. "We ended up just putting him on a cart and pushing him down the street. It was fun for the employees. Not a lot of companies can do that, but we were just one block away." Plans were in place months before workers made the actual move, Hagenow said. The 70-employee company includes a 40-worker call center. "We knew six months in advance that we would have some down time," she said. "We made sure we extended projects long enough or outsourced any work we needed to." Reynolds Transfer was called to help Chamberlain's designated coordinator and his six-person crew, Hagenow said. "They came to our staff meetings," she said. "They explained the process, timelines and rules. Everyone was well prepared and knew what to expect." Reynolds assigned Chamberlain employees individual numbers so they could use stickers to label their chairs and boxes, Hagenow said. After adding up the costs of new furniture, industrial equipment for a new test kitchen, upgrades for technology, such as additional computers and phones; new one-way wrap-around mirrors for focus group conference rooms, new stationary and business cards, the total bill was estimated at nearly $100,000, Hagenow said. "We did a lot of research before we moved," she said. "We are very cost conscious." Chamberlain's moving coordinator spent three months overseeing the process, Hagenow said. "If we had to spend more money in one area, we were able to make adjustments in other areas, so overall we hit our goal (of $92,000). Our planning and research paid off." The four-day move began at the close of business on Aug. 3. The staff was asked not to disrupt the coordinator or the Reynolds crew, Hagenow said. Employees were back on the job the following Tuesday, Hagenow said. "All the computers and electrical components were ready to go," she said. "Everything employees had when they left Thursday night was in the new cubicles Tuesday morning. Healthy dose of orders A whole different set of logistics is needed in packing up a hospital - a 24/7 operation - said Shane Prichard, general manager at Reynolds, which has coordinated hundreds of moves, including hospitals in Portage and Platteville, as well as at the Beaver Dam Community Hospital. "If a kid had a broken arm or a woman was having a baby, they needed the hospital," he said. "The hospital had to stay open 24 hours a day." Workers moved some departments twice, including surgery, intensive care and the emergency room, Prichard said. "We moved half of the emergency room one day and the other half the next," he said. "We helped move patients as well." Detailed planning meetings for the move started a year in advance, said Joe Bonnett, vice president of operations at the Beaver Dam hospital, which serves a 60,000-resident community. Hospital officials hired an independent engineer who served as a moving consultant to assist with the plan, Bonnett said. During the move, a master schedule was displayed in a hallway so doctors, nurses, patients, administrators and movers had direct access to the outline, Bonnett said. "It was critical that we not close down," he said. "We created an experienced team of employees who worked out the details, staffing, logistics and timing. The intensive planning helped diminish stress." The hospital treats about 200 patients a day, Bonnett said. Hospital officials requested that physicians delay elective surgery until after the move, in addition to discharging as many patients as possible. Yet workers can't simply yank the plugs on pieces of equipment, move them and plug them in again, Bonnett pointed out. "Many (machines have) to be recalibrated and tested for quality assurance," he said. "So we'd keep one machine up and running, while we relocated an identical piece." The new hospital, built on the original facility's campus, has an indoor second-floor corridor that connects the two medical operations. A pair of Reynolds' workers assisted with transporting each of the 30 patients, hooked up to monitors, Prichard said. "We had two movers to a bed, one pushing and one steering," he said. "A doctor and a nurse were there so we didn't disturb the IV. "They had discharged a lot of folks, but they couldn't get the population down to zero." A final bill of nearly $200,000 for relocating the hospital into its new facilities was budgeted, Beaver Dam hospital officials said. That price included the mover's costs, as well as fees of equipment manufacturers who relocated special machines from the old buildings to the new and an independent engineer's stipend, Bonnett said. "We had at least one piece of equipment that cost $30,000 to move, but it was a $1 million piece," he said. "The communication with the moving company and their leadership on site was critical to our success," he said. Herculean task for gym When the owner of Heroes Gym sold more than $1 million worth of weight-lifting and cardiovascular workout equipment to the Princeton Club in 2003, Prichard organized the delivery. "Some pieces weighed in excess of 1,000 pounds," said Rob West, 48, now owner of Body Mechanix Inc., in Middleton. "There were hundreds of pieces of equipment on the second floor and there was no elevator. A lot of pieces had to be disassembled." When the job was completed, West didn't want to spend time repairing gouges in the walls or nicks to the paint. "We had used a special paint that cost $100 a gallon," West pointed out. During a planning meeting, Prichard had calculated the challenges and developed solutions. "They had to carry out treadmills, stair-steppers and weight machines," West said. "They are analytical about how they do things. It was very well thought out." One 700-pound octopus-shaped machine called for the entire 10-man crew to lift it to a moving dolly, Prichard said. "They know how to do things right," West said. "They make it a science." Mover's charity moves Dozens of Habitat for Humanity families, volunteers assisting victims of Hurricane Katrina and audiences at the Madison Ballet have benefited from the charitable work provided by crews at Two Men and a Truck. The Madison company, owned by Tim Lightner, is primarily a residential mover, said Mary Schneider, operations director 15 years. About 20 percent of the mover's work is commercial, she said. Still, the company annually contributes about $100,000 in robust strength to nonprofit organizations, Schneider said. "We set up a charitable budget and give a certain percentage back to the community," said Schneider, who declined to discuss the formula. "We try to avoid sponsorships. We want to do in-kind services." A fleet of 20 trucks is available for use, said Schneider, who is among the company's 40 full-time and 40 part-time workers. In 2006, Two Men and a Truck moved 15 Habitat families. Sixteen Habitat families are scheduled for moves in 2007, Schneider said. Maggie Rossitier Peterman is a freelance reporter. mjpeterman@sbcglobal.net madison.com ©2009 Capital Newspapers. All rights reserved. |
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