Renovating an Occupied Healthcare or Senior Living Building: How the Work Stays Safe

Clinics, skilled nursing facilities and senior living communities rarely shut down for a renovation. Residents still live there, patients still come in and staff still work their shifts. That changes how finish trades like painting, flooring, drywall and ceilings have to plan the work. Here is how those projects are usually run and what a facility manager or GC should expect from the crew.

Infection control comes first

Most healthcare work starts with an Infection Control Risk Assessment (ICRA), prepared with the facility's infection prevention team. It sets the class of precautions based on the type of work and the patient risk in the area. Depending on the class, that can mean:

• Dust barriers from floor to deck with sealed seams and a zipper or hard door
• Negative air pressure in the work area with HEPA-filtered air machines
• Sticky mats at the exit and a cleanup routine before leaving the area
• Covered debris carts and set routes for removing material
• Above-ceiling work only with permission and the area protected

The crew should know what class they are working under and keep the barriers in good condition every day, not only on the first day.

Phasing around residents and patients

The work is broken into small areas so most of the building stays in use. A typical plan moves room by room or wing by wing, with each area handed back clean before the next one opens. Good phasing includes:

• A schedule agreed with the administrator and the nursing or clinic manager
• Resident or patient moves planned ahead, not the morning of
• Quiet hours respected, especially during meals, therapy and rest periods
• Night or weekend work for common areas, corridors and lobbies

Products and odor

Low-odor, low-VOC coatings and fast-curing flooring products help rooms go back into service sooner. Specs on healthcare jobs often call for scrubbable or washable finishes on walls and doors, and specific flooring and base systems that can be cleaned and disinfected. Ventilation and cure times should be planned into the schedule so a room is not turned over while it still smells like paint.

Life safety stays active

Fire alarms, sprinklers, exit routes and fire-rated walls stay in service during the work. When a project affects any of them, the facility may need interim life safety measures in place. Penetrations in rated walls are firestopped the same day, and exit paths stay clear of ladders, carts and material.

People on site

• Workers wear ID and check in with the facility
• The same crew leader stays on the job so staff know who to talk to
• Respectful conduct around residents and patients is part of the job
• Communication in English and Spanish when the crew and staff need it

Our experience

Kanos Group works on healthcare and senior living renovations in Tampa Bay, including painting, drywall, ceilings, flooring, demolition and finish work, as a subcontractor to general contractors and directly for facilities. Permitted work is performed under our Florida Certified General Contractor partner.

Learn more on our healthcare and senior living renovation page or request an estimate.