Albert Schweitzer hospital bets high on digital building management

With three locations and one outpatient clinic, the Albert Schweitzer Hospital is the healthcare partner for residents of the South Holland South region. In order to grow dynamically along with the changing demand for care and to be able to innovate and anticipate quickly, the hospital is highly committed to digitalization. "The strength of this digitization rests on two pillars," emphasizes Willem Blaak, coordinator Technical Business Office of Housing and Technology at Albert Schweitzer Hospital. "In addition to a good foundation for drawings management, we are building an Asset Management System in which all processes for multi-year management and maintenance, finance and contract management are available quickly and up-to-date. This offers advantages not only for our internal processes, but also in our projects."

"Not only our facility and technical services, but also project leaders of (construction) projects and external parties increasingly request information about our locations, installations and (medical) equipment," says Blaak. "For example, in new construction and renovation projects, but also to properly organize maintenance and management. In addition, we have a lot of compliance. Hospitals must demonstrably comply with extensive laws and regulations. Digitization also offers a solution in that case, because information about, for example, accreditations, NEN inspections and legionella management is stored in a structured way and can be shared directly with the relevant parties."

Comprehensive implementation

The digitization of Albert Schweitzer Hospital goes back at least 25 years, emphasizes CAD administrator and draftsman (mechanical) engineering Teun Wapperom. "Since that time, we have also been using drawing/modeling software Stabicad for AutoCAD. A conscious choice, because our most important partners also work with it. In addition, Stabicad for AutoCAD, like Stabicad for Revit, is taught in schools, which means that new employees can also get to grips with it well and quickly." CAD administrator and electrical draftsman Ferry Graafland: "Until recently, model drawings and additional information were easily shared via the Stabicad web viewer, but since the acquisition of Stabiplan by Trimble, this viewer is being phased out. Therefore, we started looking for an alternative solution, which we found in Trimble Connect. Driven by the capabilities of this platform, we started a comprehensive implementation." 

Viewing and working area

Albert Schweitzer Hospital's Technical Business Office had long been looking for a solution that would allow internal and external parties to retrieve and share their files in one conveniently arranged environment. "Trimble Connect provides this," said Graafland. "A unique feature of the software is that a viewing section and a working section can be combined. This allows department heads, facility and technical services to view the situation drawings of our various locations in PDF at all times. Moreover, we can easily create projects, in which all relevant parties can collaborate after invitation." With this, Graafland refers, among others, to KCU (Kuijpers Service B.V., Constructif B.V. and ULC Technisch Beheer B.V.), which for the next five years will be responsible for all project-based (renovation) activities for the maintenance, continuity and optimization of the Albert Schweitzer Hospital. "In the near future, KCU will be able to easily download drawings, add revisions and restore files in Trimble Connect, making it clear from start to finish who downloaded which files when, what changes were made and what the most up-to-date drawings are." Blaak: "Thanks to Trimble Connect, forwarding files via emails and WeTransfer, for example, is a thing of the past. As a result, everyone keeps an overview. Because all relevant parties can see what information has been provided and what has been returned, control is also better. You look at a project with more eyes, which benefits quality. At the same time, we as the business office remain in control. Because all data remains on our own servers, we always retain ownership of the files."

More than 10,000 drawings

Senior Support Engineer from Trimble Jan Barend den Ouden supported the Technical Business Office of the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in setting up the Trimble Connect environment. "Jan Barend has already handled many software migrations and installations for us, and this process also went smoothly," Graafland says. "We are very satisfied with his support. In just three days, more than 10,000 drawings on our server were synchronized with Trimble Connect. In the process, Jan Barend has set up a tool, so that the synchronization can be done from now on at the push of a button." Den Ouden: "Together with the hospital's ICT department, I inventoried how processes, files, rights structures and workstations should be managed and rolled out. In addition, I trained key users Willem, Teun and Ferry in Trimble Connect and wrote a 'Quick Start' manual that guides internal and external users step-by-step on the platform."

Always up-to-date

Soon the first projects will be taken up through Trimble Connect. Blaak mentions not only the realization of a new emergency power supply, but also the incorporation of a new urology department, which will henceforth cluster urology and gynecology in one center. In addition, several smaller jobs, such as the splitting of medical and technical compressed air, will be set up through Trimble Connect. By running projects through this platform, parties always have the most up-to-date drawings, Wapperom emphasizes. "This takes a lot of pressure off project managers. It also creates an overview, which means you can also call each other to account for responsibilities. For example, with regard to revisions. This keeps the flow of information always up-to-date." Graafland: "An optimum in this we hope to achieve in the future, when the technical service can also share revisions via the platform and paper drawings will be a thing of the past."

Finger on the pulse thanks to BIM ILS

"Cooperation between parties is only successful when the information being worked with is structured, consistent, correct and complete," Den Ouden emphasizes. "This also applies to the Albert Schweitzer Hospital, for which an awful lot of parties perform drawing work. Trimble Connect also offers a solution here. In fact, models can easily be checked on the platform for the presence and consistency of parameters." To make this check possible, Den Ouden has written an Information Delivery Specification (ILS) especially for the hospital, which is used as a supplement to the CAD procedure manual and is particularly helpful in new construction projects. Blaak: "Using various tools, we can make cross-sections of Revit models, for example. We can then easily select parts and, for example, check numbers, diameters and other object information, in accordance with the agreements made. This allows us to keep a maximum grip on the design, the processes and the final quality of our buildings."