Southeast Health

Doster is serving as the general contractor for several renovation projects on the Southeast Health campus in Dothan, Alabama.

Projects have included a lobby and canopy renovation and a kitchen and cafeteria addition and renovation.

CASE STUDY: A PREFABRICATED MODULAR KITCHEN SAVES SOUTHEAST HEALTH 6 MONTHS AND REDUCES OVERALL PROJECT COST

Prior to Doster being awarded the Southeast Health Kitchen and Cafeteria Addition/Renovation the owner’s original plan included renovating a portion of the existing cafeteria to add a temporary kitchen. Once the temporary kitchen was constructed, Doster would then begin to demo and renovate the existing kitchen. This temporary kitchen would be used 14 months during construction of the new kitchen and cafeteria. Once the new kitchen was complete the temporary kitchen would be demoed and renovated into the remainder of the cafeteria.

In order to save the owner time and money, Doster researched other options and presented an external mobile temporary kitchen to be set up in a confined space located outside of the campus’s Cancer Center. The mobile kitchen is a prefabricated modular unit that is fully equipped with all of the commercial grade equipment needed to operate. The mobile kitchen is made up of four 24’ x 40’ modular units and meal cooking capacity is approximately 2,000 meals per day.

“We worked alongside Southeast Health to compare the potential cost and time savings that the temporary mobile kitchen would provide and felt it would be the best option for them. We were able to help identify the best location to place the kitchen and developed the logistics necessary to provide this temporary solution,” said Senior Project Manager Jay Drennen.

This innovative solution eliminated a 6-month phase of the project and reduced the overall duration from 20 months to 14 months.   It also reduced considerable risk and eliminated a costly and complicated plumbing renovation from the project.  This option allowed for a seamless way to keep the hospitals kitchen fully operational throughout demolition and construction. In the end it also saved the owner both time and money, along with the benefit to the community of having no interruption in food service.

The trust Southeast Health placed in our team to not only develop, but execute, this unique solution allowed for the best outcome for the patients, staff, facility, and community.