A robust capital planning should be in place for health care
organizations since it can have a direct implication on how effectively
financial resources are used on projects or assets. In the evolving
health care landscape, inefficiency relating to capital planning can
give rise to financial complexities in the long run, and it can diminish
the quality of infrastructural capabilities and limit the performance of
facilities. Dufresne has identified several best practices that can be
adopted to ensure effective capital planning. Some of the practices
that he has identified include strategic facilities capital planning,
collection of data, benchmarking the condition of the facility, and
giving priority to capital projects (Dufresne, 2011). Each of these
steps can plan an instrumental role in influencing how a health care
facility utilizes its capital for the effective management of the
facilities and infrastructural capabilities.
The best practice that is essential for ensuring that a health care
organization’s capital plan will be successful is conducting a
comprehensive inspection and investigation of the site in the
preliminary stage before the construction activities begin. This step is
fundamental, and it can lay down the foundation for understanding
the kind of capital that will be required to work on the facility. The
investigation process can help in the confirmation of the specific
location of the utilities This activity must be performed by the
construction team. They can use their expertise and skills in the
specific area to acquire adequate knowledge relating to the space and
the potential issues that may arise in the space while creating a health
care facility (Al-Hashemi, 2016). Having detailed and thorough
information relating to the site prior to the beginning of the
construction work is critical since it can help to design the facility
effectively and cautiously so that hazardous situations might be
avoided. In case the proper inspection of the site is not carried out,
and the construction activity is started, the useful life of the facility
can be negatively affected. For ensuring that the available capital is
used optimally, the contractor must make sure to acquire relevant
reports relating to any hazardous aspects. It can help to get an
integrated insight into the site and aid in taking steps to mitigate
hazards relating to the specific area. Only after constructing a
detailed site inspection it is possible to move to other steps, such as
creating an interim safety plan and identifying the risk assessment
requirements. Thus, the most critical step is site investigation since it
can influence effective capital planning in the health care setting (Al-
Hashemi, 2016).
References
Al-Hashemi, H. (2016). Literature Review: Site Investigation And
Boring Layout. 10.13140/RG.2.2.35365.70881.
Dufresne, R. (2011, July 15). A Strategic Facilities Capital Planning
primer. Area Development. Retrieved June 7, 2022, from
https://www.areadevelopment.com/re-project-
management/July2011/strategic-facilities-capital-planning-primer-
27262525.shtml?Page=2
