Orchestrating Change Without Missing a Beat

Significant moments take time to plan. Managing countless moving parts. Anticipating challenges 10 steps ahead. Understanding what can’t go wrong — and what absolutely must go right.

That was the challenge when our Central Lab was under expansion and planning was underway to bring our Surgical Pathology and Cytology teams over from Strong Memorial Hospital. The move had to be seamless for the healthcare providers and patients across the Finger Lakes and Southern Tier regions who rely on us daily. Downtime wasn’t an option. Because behind every sample are real people: patients and families, and their healthcare providers, waiting for answers tied to diagnoses, treatment plans and, in some cases, life-or-death decisions.

As one of the largest pathology clinical operations in the nation, with more than 12 million tests processed annually, including one of the largest Anatomic Pathology divisions in the nation, which handles nearly 180,000 cases each year, the move required a level of coordination and precision that had been tested in only a few other institutions across the country, but not here.

Moving Mountains—One Detail at a Time

“There’s a difference between moving fast and moving well,” said project manager Vicki VanDeWalle, director of Performance Improvement and Project Management. “We had to do both.”

Relocating more than 100 employees and an immense amount of lab equipment — some weighing hundreds of pounds and requiring delicate calibration — involved more than a year of rigorous planning.

The project team started developing a multi-phase strategy that began before the first hammer was swung and extended through move-in day. Every possible failure point was discussed, mitigated, and in some cases, tested. Moves were staggered by individual pathologists and lab teams, to help ensure service continuity throughout the transition.

Construction = Disruption

As planning for Surg Path and Cytology’s relocation continued on a weekly basis, the project team concurrently managed the active construction at Bailey Road. Adding 19,000 square feet above an existing first floor is, of course, disruptive. The team was acutely aware of its impact on the hundreds of employees already working at Central Lab, VanDeWalle said.

The most complex challenge was minimizing noise and vibration. The new lab addition was constructed directly above an active lab that could not be shut down.

To address the effect of noise and vibration on lab processes, the construction team installed a raised floor early in the build process — effectively creating a buffer zone between the ceiling of the existing Corelab below and the new floor above. It allowed for installation of plumbing and even the use of jackhammers. This innovation dramatically reduced noise and vibration, allowing testing and diagnostics to continue uninterrupted in the Corelab, which serves our affiliate hospitals and providers from the region.

Components of the build such as, plumbing and electric, could be prefabricated offsite – basically put together and delivered to Central Lab ready for installation. It avoided extended periods of interior construction, VanDeWalle said, and it positively affected the project’s timeline by having the produced components onsite when the prepared space was ready for it.

Packing Up Without Powering Down

When the week arrived to move the SMH-based teams to Bailey Road, it wasn’t done in one fell swoop. The transition was precisely choreographed — a slow dance of disassembly, transport, installation, and revalidation.

“This move was impressive,” said Jennifer Findeis-Hosey, MD, director of Surgical Pathology. The thoughtfulness, care, and diligence of the whole team was remarkable. We couldn’t have achieved this level of success without it.”

Every workstation, instrument, and reagent had a place and a plan. Equipment was tested at every stage, and communications flowed constantly between the project team, clinical leaders, and operations.

Two weeks prior, staff members relocating to the new lab space were moved in a sequence that maintained a regular turnaround of cases and helped with a seamless transition.

Despite the scale, not a single essential test went offline. Thousands of cases, specimens, blocks, and slides managed by the Surg Path and Cytology teams entered the queue daily during the move.

“The move was a great success,” said Surgical Pathology manager Loralee McMahon. She credits the thoughtful planning and stellar preparatory work; the leadership and organization of Histology supervisor Sierra Kovar-Peltz; and all the employees who made it happen.

Everyone knew their assignments and pulled together to transport the labs’ entire operations during a few short days, McMahon said. “It was truly amazing to see the team come together, work long hours, and make it a success for the department. Looking back, I see it as a meaningful team-building experience,” she said, “although not one we’d like to do again anytime soon!”

Plans are always made with the hope that everything goes according to script. Like a wedding day. Or a cross-country move. And when the inevitable hiccup happens — wrong flowers, missing furniture — we adjust.

But for pathology, we know the stakes are higher. There’s no room for late results, no margin for error. To ensure safe transport of specimens moving site to site, trial runs informed the way the move was ultimately conducted.

A gurney system developed for the trucks moving specimens protected its cargo, ensured the weight was appropriate, and allowed for more to be transported safely each run, VanDeWalle said.

An enhanced tracking program was designed inhouse by our department’s innovative IT team to pinpoint where a specific specimen was at any point during the move. Designed for that purpose, it is now part of operations, capturing each specimen’s history in the system, its exact location (in a cooler, in transport), logging turnaround times, and more.

“The challenge is moving tissue and slides back and forth in a timely manner,” said David Hicks, MD, who served as Surgical Pathology director for a decade. “Despite the complexity of the move, the team did an amazing job of making this happen as seamlessly as possible.”

The work done to ensure a flawless move wasn't just logistical excellence — it was an act of service to the patients who may never know the effort that went into getting their results right on time.