Users received support and assistance in the functional implementation of the Kirkkonummi Wellbeing Centre
A wellbeing centre serving an entire health care and social welfare area is always a complex entity. The implementation of the new Wellbeing Centre did not happen overnight in Kirkkonummi either, and a functional planning expert from Sweco was on site to assist users.
Kirkkonummi is currently making preparations for joining the Western Uusimaa Wellbeing Services County, meaning that going forward, all municipal health and social services will be provided in the new Wellbeing Centre, which will be completed in the Jokiniitty district. The centre will replace the health station in the city centre.
“Up until now, many health care and social welfare services have been scattered around the municipality in buildings in poor condition and at the end of their life cycle”, says Anne Hilander, a specialist in basic health care services in the municipality. The patient and working facilities of the Wellbeing Centre, which will be opened towards the end of 2022, have been designed from the outset to meet the current requirements. The entity also includes many technologies and services that are still rare in Finland. “For example, it will be possible to retrieve aids at any time of the day from pigeonholes placed outside.”
Hilander was deeply involved in the project. For her, the Wellbeing Centre represents a miniature of the entire Wellbeing Services County. ”The centre is going to be an excellent asset for the entire municipality. It will certainly attract new residents and health care and social services employees to Kirkkonummi.”
Psychosocial support is even more important than competence
Sweco’s expert on user-oriented hospital design, Minna Hiiros, supported users in the practical implementation of the Wellbeing Centre and in the planning of user acquisitions. The vast facilities need plenty of various hospital fixtures and pieces of equipment as well as office supplies. ”When we are about to receive 400 desks and 66 trucks from Martela, we must plan delivery schedules meticulously. The same goes for unpacking the deliveries.”
The users received practical advice in making emergency changes to the facilities, when the Wellbeing Centre had to be rearranged to accommodate an infection clinic due to the COVID-19 pandemic during construction. According to Hilander, the expert’s broad competence and experience in various projects in the world of hospitals was indispensable. “No one in the municipality had experience in operational planning, so Minna was an absolutely irreplaceable help to us!”
The users’ faith in the completion of the complex project was sometimes tested, but the expert sparred and proactively steered the planning forward during joint weekly meetings. “Minna was one step ahead of us at all times, and thanks to her expertise in health care, she understood us almost intuitively,” Hilander says. “The psychosocial support and encouragement she provided us was at least as important.”
User training requires time
The introduction of health care facilities is not just about finding a dedicated place for each item. Personnel must also be guided through change. Personnel training and familiarisation were planned during functional implementation to ensure that all employees knew who is responsible for the content of the training and how much time the training required.
“As a result of careful orientation, employees are already familiar with their work areas and new routes before work begins,” Hiiros says. In the new modern spaces, getting a handle on the technology alone takes time when lockers, for example, lock electronically and lighting is controlled based on use. “When staff know how to use the new advanced systems, they support work and thus also contribute to good customer experience.”
All of the more than 300 employees were able to familiarise themselves with the new premises in small groups in the spring. The training also included user information sessions and frequent communications. “As a rule, feedback has been very positive,” says Hilander. “The colour scheme of the spaces is a little divisive, but the lightness of the facilities is commended by everyone, even though some of the rooms are located in the internal framework.”
The creation of a practical implementation plan and a timetable for the Wellbeing Centre was pulled off in just six months. “Individual tasks formed an entity that the Wellbeing Centre’s own skilled and dynamic project team will now be implementing,” Hiiros says with satisfaction. Indeed, she will only provide support for users for as long as is necessary. “My work has been successful when I have made myself unnecessary and I am happy to step aside.”
Photo: Santeri Heikkilä