Spectrum Health's new "consolidated offices" HQ's

[Khorasaurus1]

11 minutes ago, RegalTDP said:

Probably talking about the Monroe Streetcar proposal: https://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/2014/02/streetcar_plan_for_grand_rapid.html

Haven't heard any news about this since 2014.

It's a bad idea. Way too much cost for too little service.

But I do think the Spectrum HQ will necessitate a couple more Rapid routes.  - another DASH ("Northwest?") running from the Hill to the Spectrum HQ and then maybe across the Leonard bridge and down Alpine to the West Side parking lots? And a full service line running Central Station - Monroe - Knapp to Knapp's Corner. 

And I actually do think we'd benefit from a rail system. But if we're going to do it, it should be big and transformative. 

 

[Raildude's dad]

And what does this say? How about some plain English? All PR doublespeak to me.  It takes a $100 million building to "lower the cost of care and coverage"? Color me extremely skeptical.

"The new office “enables us to reimagine innovative approaches and leverage consolidation — including human resources, finance, facilities management, medical group and other administrative functions — and co-locate these offices with a learning center for all employees,” the health system said.

Through the office building, the health system is “taking a multi-faceted approach to support its vision of personalized health made simple, affordable and exceptional.” Spectrum Health plans to dedicate 30,000 square feet of space for public health education sessions and “other community-based events” it will host, according to a statement.

“We are excited to create a collaborative space for learning, development and innovation that brings people together to prepare for the future of personalized health — and make inroads to lower the cost of care and coverage,"

[Guest]

It means.....

lol

(repost from Plant Parenthood)

[grandrollerz]

We (SH) are going to save a lot of money by ending our leases. That savings will be passed on to consumers in the form of...not increasing prices to start, and eventually price reductions. Its tough just trying to tackle exploding costs. All those dispersed locations, a person can spend a lot of time on the road. Mileage costs are expensive too. And lost productivity with windshield time. co-location will be so much better. \

Now, they are going to do a bunch of open office layout experiments, which i hate, but we'll see where we land. This article https://hbr.org/2019/11/the-truth-about-open-offices is making the rounds at work, so I'm hopeful we don't drink the open office kook-aid and scale back some of the schtick being peddled by steelcase: https://www.steelcase.com/spaces-inspiration/workplace-design-approach/ (not sure if we are using them, just sharing for reference).

Butterworth and the Children's Hospital both just had their highest census ever last week. Ever. (RSV, not flu oddly) So not only is there no reason to have admin functions on the medical center campus, it doesn't make sense for the community. Get those people out of there and increase the access to medical services. People are getting more acutely ill, and those things need an interdisciplianry medical center, same as Metro Health Village on the other end of town. THey have the benefit of building on open land where Spectrum ismostly landlocked and it's buildings a mish-mash of 100 years of add-ons. It's a mess and expensive as hell to renovate.

It will be interesting to see how the community reacts to Spectrum Health and it's growth/transformation plans in light of consolidation in the market. Everyone always thought of (thinks?) Spectrum Health as the big bad bully on the hill. I see we are still making memes about Spectrum Health.

But if you look at the revenues, Spectrum Health is $6.3B in revenues, while Trinity Health (St Marys et al) is ~$18B and Mercy (Muskegon et al) is $6B and Michigan Medicine being all aggressive is around $5B and growing fast. I don't think we can still be thinking Spectrum as the big bad bully.

(disclaimer, they pay me, opinions are my own)

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[Raildude's dad]

I wasn't insinuating Spectrum is a big bully. We are very fortunate to have them, the cancer center (wife's niece is currently being treated there) , the heart center, children's hospital etc.  I've had 4 back surgeries there, 2 were 4 day stays.

However, why couldn't their press release say what you said?  You should be writing it:).  I agree, Butterworth campus is a facilities nightmare. Blodgett isn't much better (the 4 back surgeries were there - they only have private rooms ). Note I was born there in 1950 lol. 

I agree with you on the open space BS.  I'm barely involved with a new building and I want to throw up when I see "huddle room".  I will get a new office -smaller than what I have now.  I function with what I have but a bit bigger would help my efficiency. We currently have 2 break rooms for about 40 people  (2 floor bldg). The architect says we only need 1 .  It's bad enough when 20 people are using the micro wave, let alone 60. The fridge is full with 20, so where will lunches go? I don't have room in my current office for a mini fridge - and why should I have to buy a fridge. 

Edited January 22, 2020 by Raildude's dad

[organsnyder]

When I worked at SH I worked in an open-plan office. It was conducive to neither productivity nor collaboration. Tellingly, most real collaboration took place in conference rooms.

[MJLO]

3 hours ago, organsnyder said:

When I worked at SH I worked in an open-plan office. It was conducive to neither productivity nor collaboration. Tellingly, most real collaboration took place in conference rooms.

When I worked at SH in an open office environment I wanted to put my head in an oven.  It was one of the most counter intuitive office environments for my personality.  Everyone I worked with were beyond nice and accommodating, but I still felt like the only gay at the church picnic.  It was the only work environment in my career I never felt settled in. Fortunately for me it was short lived as SH started cutting people in consulting roles over the summer.  I ended up taking a job back in an engineering capacity, and didn't stick around to see if my position was secure.  

That said I think this facility is key for the city.   Those squawking about the price tag are forgetting that SH is a non-profit.  A large portion of it's facilities are financed in part by fundraising, donations, and grants.  They aren't about to raise the price of catheters so that Tina can have a riverfront view.  I give them two thumbs up for considering the cities overall health and profile and opting to take the harder/more expensive road of building the more expensive facility.  Don't forget the alternative to this location is for them to yank a couple thousand high paying jobs from downtown, and place them in a suburban office location.   That would have meant downtown had lost it's largest corporate headquarters to the suburbs.  It would lower the profile of the regions core, and impact overall vibrancy, which is essential for the city in terms of marketing and attracting more businesses, restaurants, retail etc.   

[grandrollerz]

Not sure if this one was posted here but it seems to have flown under the radar, didn't realize this until I heard it around the water cooler.

https://www.grbj.com/articles/94754-health-system-buys-medical-mile-building

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[GR_Urbanist]

Quote

Spectrum Health confirmed it purchased the property, but it did not disclose its plans for the building.

I would only hope it is demolished and rebuilt with the design lining both Michigan and College. That Intersection desperately needs a visual shift from the auto-centric "off the highway" look that makes it unappealing to attempt to walk around.

 

But it is more likely that SH will slap on a new coat of paint, leave as-is, or use it to store stuff. They havent shown much haste to develop the several properties they own on the other side of Michigan St. much if at all, so this looks more of a buy to keep it out of the hands of someone that will charge them a fortune in the future if they didnt buy it now.

[grandrollerz]

If i was able to get a meeting with the strategic facilities planner about this project, would any of you strangers on the internet whom I've never met in real life, want to get together for a meeting to review plans??

[ironyisadeadscene]

56 minutes ago, grandrollerz said:

If i was able to get a meeting with the strategic facilities planner about this project, would any of you strangers on the internet whom I've never met in real life, want to get together for a meeting to review plans??

Is beer involved?

[Raildude's dad]

GRD3 used to organize visits to some of the local projects, the Anheuser - Busch building, the old Y, etc. A bunch of us would show up:)

[GRDadof3]

6 hours ago, grandrollerz said:

If i was able to get a meeting with the strategic facilities planner about this project, would any of you strangers on the internet whom I've never met in real life, want to get together for a meeting to review plans??

Yes

[Allison Slater]

18 hours ago, Raildude's dad said:

GRD3 used to organize visits to some of the local projects, the Anheuser - Busch building, the old Y, etc. A bunch of us would show up:)

I really miss those.

[GRDadof3]

9 hours ago, tSlater said:

I really miss those.

Lunch and Learns! We also went through 38 Commerce, some of Dave Allen's projects when he was at Lighthouse Communities, and I can't even remember where else. The developer would often bring in pizzas. 

[joeDowntown]

37 minutes ago, GRDadof3 said:

Lunch and Learns! We also went through 38 Commerce, some of Dave Allen's projects when he was at Lighthouse Communities, and I can't even remember where else. The developer would often bring in pizzas. 

The old YMCA was a good one!

Joe

[ModSquad]

2 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:

Lunch and Learns! We also went through 38 Commerce, some of Dave Allen's projects when he was at Lighthouse Communities, and I can't even remember where else. The developer would often bring in pizzas. 

InnovaLab would be willing to host a lunch and learn at our modular townhouse project on the 700 Block of Bates if UP folks wanted to learn about modular construction.  Just say the word.

 

[Guest]

Noticed a few weeks ago the Gill properties changed from HZ Properties to Spectrum Health System

[Chisox]

15 hours ago, ModSquad said:

InnovaLab would be willing to host a lunch and learn at our modular townhouse project on the 700 Block of Bates if UP folks wanted to learn about modular construction.  Just say the word.

 

Where is this development located? Nevermind saw it on Redfin.  

Edited February 20, 2020 by Chisox

[Allison Slater]

10 hours ago, ModSquad said:

InnovaLab would be willing to host a lunch and learn at our modular townhouse project on the 700 Block of Bates if UP folks wanted to learn about modular construction.  Just say the word.

I would love to learn about modular construction!

[GRDadof3]

22 hours ago, ModSquad said:

InnovaLab would be willing to host a lunch and learn at our modular townhouse project on the 700 Block of Bates if UP folks wanted to learn about modular construction.  Just say the word.

 

I'm in.

[Raildude's dad]

Me too

[ModSquad]

2 hours ago, GRDadof3 said:

I'm in.

Jeff, you have organized these in the past, what is the best way to go about this?  How about Thursday March 5?  InnovaLab can serve pizza at a lunch and learn at the townhouses on Bates.  

[GRDadof3]

1 hour ago, ModSquad said:

Jeff, you have organized these in the past, what is the best way to go about this?  How about Thursday March 5?  InnovaLab can serve pizza at a lunch and learn at the townhouses on Bates.  

That day works for me. Then we just create a new thread with address, time, details and have people respond to get a head count. I can do that tomorrow.

[Pattmost20]

On 2/19/2020 at 7:43 PM, ModSquad said:

InnovaLab would be willing to host a lunch and learn at our modular townhouse project on the 700 Block of Bates if UP folks wanted to learn about modular construction.  Just say the word.

 

I was actually doing the title insurance on 733 Bates, but it looks like the deal fell through. Great price for a new build, I would love to see some more developments like these replace some of the blighted properties in GR.