Bringing new, innovative healthcare space online allows for the best patient care. But with healthcare costs escalating and reimbursement formulas changing frequently, health systems also need to operate more efficiently than ever. Fresh thinking in methodologies and construction are creating exponential opportunities to accomplish this at NorthShore University HealthSystem’s new medical office building in Round Lake Beach, Illinois. Along the way, we’re developing a repeatable and transferable process that can be used on future projects.

This project, to be completed in April 2019, consists of site work, parking and a 17,500 square-foot, single-story building with underground storm detention. Clinical space will be organized in pods by specialty area.

The project is being designed and built using an integrated form of agreement (IFOA) and a signed contract that includes Lean principles. This means we are sharing risks and rewards as one team with the owner and architect. Together we are discovering challenges, brainstorming solutions, adjusting to downstream impact and visualizing the way to the end. This allows us to be creative, fluid, innovative and, most important, collaborative. Under the IFOA, we’re leading a target value delivery process where we lean on both trade partners and our own constructability insights. The resulting shared-savings plan will help deliver the project on budget.