Reframing the role of facilities teams

Too often, health care facilities management is viewed as a cost to hospitals — only noticed when something goes wrong or the budget is exceeded. That view is outdated and unsafe. The work of facilities teams protects patient safety through compliance and long-term organizational resilience. Every decision a facilities manager makes carries not only financial but, more importantly, human consequences. It is time to reframe facilities management as both a life protector and a dollar protector.

This reframe is not just a best practice; it is mandated. Under the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Quality Assessment and Performance Improvement framework, facilities teams are tied under federal law to continuous improvement and risk identification for facilities equipment. This means aligning capital renewal and operational decisions with risk-based analysis. When facilities leaders show that funding requests are about reducing exposure and ensuring patient safety, they speak in terms that executives understand and respect.

It starts with building trust at the executive level. Too often, hospitals spend millions testing and repairing unnecessary life safety features because no one stopped to evaluate whether they were still required. By approaching each decision with a risk-based mindset, facilities teams can identify alternatives that maintain safety while dramatically reducing capital and operational costs. Avoiding unnecessary spending builds credibility and sets facilities managers up for success when they approach leadership with a critical funding request. This credibility is the difference between budgets that are stretched thin on unnecessary projects and budgets that are able to address the issues that matter most.

Reframing decisions in the language of avoided costs and reduced risk moves facilities management from being perceived as an expense to being recognized as a strategic partner in success.

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Joshua Brackett, PE, CHFM, FASHE, system regulatory director for facilities, Banner Health.