The University Hospital Zurich’s (USZ) new outpatient health center at the airport presents complex challenges for facility management. In this interview, Luzius Suter, Head of Facility Management, explains how these are being addressed in partnership with ISS.
Luzius Suter, Head of Facility Management, USZ Airport
Mr. Suter, from your workplace, you watch planes take off and land every day. Is it possible to stay focused on your work, or does the urge to travel get the better of you?
Even as a child, I spent a lot of my free time at Zurich Airport. That fascination is still there today when I watch an A380 take off. However, since the building’s facade is exceptionally well insulated, you can hardly hear the jets taking off, and it’s more of a coincidence when I happen to look out at the runway.
The USZ has been operating the outpatient health center in THE CIRCLE business complex at Zurich Airport for over a year now. Why was such a center opened here in particular?
The University Hospital of Zurich is currently renovating the infrastructure at the USZ campus in the city of Zurich. Various construction phases are planned over the next 25 years while operations continue. This requires space and temporary relocation areas. That’s why several off-site locations have been put into operation. For example, clinical research and a state-of-the-art logistics and service center for central supply management are located in Schlieren. Administrative workstations have been relocated to Stettbach. About half of the outpatient medical consultations are conducted at the new USZ Airport location at THE CIRCLE. We aim to treat approximately 1,000 patients daily. Some of them come from the immediate vicinity.
110 interdisciplinary examination rooms are available to patients for outpatient treatment.
The architecture of the USZ Circle stands out for its curved shape. Added to this is a complex infrastructure featuring state-of-the-art medical technology. What challenges does this pose for facility management?
The CIRCLE building complex was not originally designed as a hospital facility. As a result, the floor-to-ceiling heights are rather low. The hollow ceilings are filled with technical installations, some of which are difficult to access. This makes maintenance time-consuming, and retrofitting installations is challenging. Fundamentally, facility management is responsible for ensuring that patient care proceeds as smoothly as possible and that equipment and systems are always available. We therefore schedule maintenance work outside of operating hours whenever possible. This also applies to logistics and cleaning. On the other hand, in the event of a malfunction or incident, we must respond quickly to ensure that patient care is not disrupted and that the equipment is not damaged.
Why did the USZ Outpatient Clinic decide to outsource?
Facility management is not part of a hospital’s core business. At the same time, hospital operations place high demands on facility management. At the USZ Campus, our specialists from the “Real Estate and Operations Department” provide facility management services. They define guidelines and standards that apply to all USZ locations. At the same time, however, we also want to measure ourselves against the market and benchmark our own performance. That is why we subjected the facility services for our off-campus locations to a “make or buy” assessment. For the USZ Airport location, we decided to put the following services out to bid: cleaning, building systems operation and maintenance, help desk, janitorial services, on-call service, and food service.
You’ve been working with ISS since the opening a little over a year ago. How has thecollaborationbeen?
Of course, it was challenging for all of us to get such a complex new location up and running. However, thanks to the professional support from the ISS project team and close coordination, we were able to maintain a high standard of operations right from the start. We’ve been learning continuously throughout the first year of operation. The team is now working smoothly, and a certain routine has been established. Today, I can say with confidence that the collaboration is working very well. In addition to the ISS employees on site, who are highly committed, ISS proactively seeks out new and innovative solutions. Furthermore, the ISS Group also makes an important contribution. It possesses a great deal of expertise and know-how, which benefits both the employees and the USZ.
Since the start of the pandemic, the issue of hygiene has come even more into focus. What measures do you take to ensure high hygiene and quality standards?
Since the opening of the new USZ Airport location on October 5, 2020, our security team at the main entrance has been guiding patients in accordance with the guidelines of the USZ COVID-19 Task Force. We adapt these guidelines to the current situation. In addition, we protect visitors and employees at the reception areas and in the USZ cafeteria from virus transmission using plexiglass partitions. Of course, especially during these challenging times, we rely on optimal hygiene. Here, we can fully rely on the professional cleaning services provided by ISS employees. We’re also supported by the electronic tracking of cleaning activities via tablets located on every cleaning cart. In addition, ISS conducts monthly quality checks - and joint inspections with us every two months - to identify potential weaknesses early on.
The USZ Outpatient Clinic
The University Hospital of Zurich (USZ) has 44 clinics and institutes. About 40 of them now offer highly specialized outpatient services at the USZ Airport location. The clinics do not have their own treatment rooms on site but rent them as needed through centrally managed operational platforms. Centralized management allows for the optimization of room occupancy and utilization. With a total of 110 interdisciplinary examination rooms, the Outpatient Clinic is by far the largest operational platform. Other operational platforms include dialysis, radiation oncology, radiology, and endoscopy; the day clinic (chemotherapy); outpatient surgery; dermatology with clinical research; allergology; and light therapy. In addition, the USZ Flughafen operates its own laboratory for blood tests, and the University Children’s Hospital Zurich as well as the Balgrist University Hospital also offer on-site treatment services. However, only outpatient services are provided. Patients cannot stay overnight.