Benefits of Integrated Project Delivery for Healthcare Construction Explored by Panel of Industry Ex

Experience has shown a wide range of benefits of Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) for healthcare construction projects. The benefits IPD were explored at the national summit of the American Society for Healthcare Engineers (ASHE). 

Randy Keiser, vice president and leader of Turner’s Healthcare group, moderated the discussion. Keiser opened the discussion by telling Turner’s IPD journey, emphasizing the strengths and benefits of an integrated approach on projects of all types and sizes, but particularly on healthcare sector projects. 

“The collaborative, everyone-has-skin-in-the-game approach of an Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) job makes perfect sense in the context of Turner’s lean journey,” said Keiser, noting that the pillars of lean, namely respect for people and a commitment to continuous improvement, are also critical to IPD success. “Integrating people, systems, and practices to optimize project results is what it’s all about,” he added. “We’ve implemented this approach, or a version of this approach, no more than 40 projects over the last decade. And everyone who has worked on one of those jobs from the owner to the laborers has seen and felt the benefits.”

The panel also featured other industry leaders who offered their own reflections on IPD. They included:
Scott Seaman, executive vice president for Lawler-Wood, owner’s representative for Northeast Georgia Health System 
Richard Kelley, vice president of Corporate Facilities Management for Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare 
Mark Bultman, principal, vice president, HGA
Norman Morgan, principal & senior vice president, regional director of health, HKS Architects 
David Kelly, Ph.D., P.E., vice president and general manager of Turner’s Detroit office
Keith Merritt, construction executive, Turner Construction Company
Andy Davis, construction executive, Turner Construction Company
Richard, for example, shared his positive IPD experience with Turner noting that the team at Methodist Le Bonheur were sold on using an IPD approach from the start. “Turner is implementing the process easily and seamlessly,” he said, adding that the advantages of the approach are already obvious. “So far, our goals are being exceeded and we couldn’t be more excited to see how the rest of the project turns out!” 

Randy echoed Richard’s sense that IPD is helping the team exceed expectations. “We’re seeing a high level of communication/ and collaboration which means all team members are on the same page about the budget and project status,” he said. “We’ve also exceeded our minority and women-owned contractor participation goals, and realized a $500,000 annual energy savings. All of these successes are possible because of the integrated environment we’re creating.” 

David Kelly offered remarks on the cost, schedule, and quality performance outcomes for BIM-enabled IPD projects compared to projects completed using more traditional delivery methods – a topic that was central to his doctoral dissertation. “My research showed that projects using IPD experienced significantly less cost- and schedule-growth when compared to projects completed using other delivery methods,” he explained. “Also, healthcare projects using IPD had significantly fewer RFIs than projects delivered by conventional means.” This is a clear indication of the close collaboration between architect and builder. 

To further illustrate the advantages of IPD, Scott Seaman noted some recent success metrics from Northeast Georgia Health System, for whom he serves as an owner’s representative. There, the team has seen an astonishing 1.2 million hours without lost time incident; 92% of waste diverted from landfills; and a job that’s coming in two months early and $7 million under budget. Added Randy, “We truly feel we are ‘on the same page’ with our clients when we implement IPD on projects and we’re looking forward to many more IPD success stories.”