András Vermes about A15 Pharmacy

Interview with András Vermes, hospital pharmacist and head of A15 Pharmacy

The reason to start

The Erasmus MC in Rotterdam is being completely renovated in three phases. In phase two, a facility tower was erected, where the production pharmacy for medicines would also be accommodated. The pharmacy fulfils an important function within the medical processes in the Erasmus MC.

 

From a physical point of view, the Erasmus MC location had too many limitations in order to fulfil the specific accommodation requirements of the pharmacy. For this reason, the decision was made to search outside Rotterdam for an alternative location with free spatial possibilities. Other parties also had to be able to access the pharmacy for collectively preparing medicines or having them prepared.

 

With a view to distribution, a central location in the Netherlands is vital, which is why a location beside the A15 motorway in Gorinchem was chosen. The end result, this pharmacy as a separate building as a facility for the healthcare sector, is unique in our country. Its development is also interesting in view of the reduction in the number of pharmacies with their own preparation facility. The forecast is that in the long term, not more than five or six large-scale preparation pharmacies will remain in our country.

 

Decision about the designer(s) 

For the construction of the Erasmus MC, an extensive outsourcing process was completed in order to form the team of architect and consultants. In addition to previous good experiences with EGM architecten, there were two pragmatic reasons to deploy this same team. Firstly, the assignment for this pharmacy arose from the progressive insight that this facility should not be realized internally for the Erasmus MC, but at another separate location. Secondly, for the new build in Rotterdam, several drawings had already been made.

 

It was therefore logical to maintain the same designteam and allow them to continue to work on the pharmacy, now as a separate new build. In this way, we also prevented too great a delay in the building process for the pharmacy. A process that was carefully marked out in advance because the existing pharmacy would be closed on a previously determined date. By that date, the new pharmacy would have to be operational.

 

Collaboration

From Day One, the collaboration within the project was excellent. The way everyone within the project clearly clicked immediately with each other was special: we understood each other straightaway and this feeling was mutual for all the parties. From the very first meeting, it felt like we had already realized several pharmacies together. This is unique, because building pharmacies is a niche market for architects and building services firms.

 

It often takes a great deal of time to simply explain all that is involved in building a properly functioning pharmacy. The fact that the parties involved immediately understood what our wishes and requirements entailed - and especially why we had these wishes and requirements was a tremendous time saving.

 

Process and organization 

The project began with a plan which everyone believed would never succeed. Whereas in Rotterdam, three years work had been carried out on the design and integration of the pharmacy within the facility tower, in Gorinchem the entire project had to be completed within 24 months, from the initial design to the delivery. Since the people in the project team could rely on mutual respect and appreciation, everyone wished to move at a faster pace. As a result, the project has progressed precisely to the day according to the planning and within the budget.

 

Overcoming adversities 

In this respect, the building of the A15 Pharmacy has been a project like all the others. Unexpected obstacles and the classic cases of deliveries that went wrong were all common occurrences.

 

Our strategy was a strict management and ensuring that everyone was prepared to resolve such problems together. An error, disappointment or wrong delivery was never the problem of just one party – after which the other parties sat back and waited until the party in question resolved it – but it was always a challenge for the whole team. In this way, we were able to tackle each problem within the team in a constructive way.

 

^{Project: Pharmacy A15}