At O’Connell Store Fixtures, installing store fixtures is the smallest part of what we do. Our team is here to launch your new pharmacy on the path to success — and that begins with proper planning.
Our new blog series, “Did You Do Your Due Diligence?”, will showcase real life stories of pharmacy owners in Ontario who failed to plan properly. Read our blogs to learn how to avoid their mistakes and develop strategies for doing ‘due diligence’ when building a pharmacy!
Our topic for this month’s “Did You Do Your Due Diligence?” is contracting. Finding a proper contractor to work on your pharmacy can be difficult. Not all contractors have experience working in a medical environment — and this can be a big issue.
When you start building a new pharmacy, you want someone who has the expertise to do the job properly. We have seen what happens with an inexperienced contractor too many times — the pharmacy owner has to tear down the drywall and start all over again!
There are a bunch of reasons why building a medical environment is different from your typical construction. Here are a few examples:
- Clean rooms or sterile rooms can’t have baseboards — they need cove base, which doesn’t allow for any sharp corners where contaminations might hide.
- Additional electrical requirements for medical zoning — each outlet needs to be on a different circuit to protect against power surges.
- Different wiring needed in the exam room, procurements rooms, lab and so on.
- Special paint required on the walls of medical rooms.
- And more
What’s the takeaway? There are ISO standards for medical rooms in a clinic and clean rooms in a pharmacy. You need a contractor who has built medical facilities before to do the job. Find the right person — do your due diligence!
If you’d like to be connected with a contractor experienced in building medical environments, contact the team at O’Connell Store Fixtures in Ontario.
