We’ve had a long and healthy relationship with a Healthcare network outside Chicago, one of our many clients in the medical field.
Our work for their second location began when the customer reached out to us because they were getting trip hazard complaints on a weekly basis. A bustling and vital location like a hospital requires lots of sidewalks and ADA ramps, and ANY trip hazard is a big deal for the patients visiting the hospital for treatment. Sure enough, some areas were at an unacceptable level of disrepair when we did our initial inspection.
At Maul, providing accessible and ADA-compliant work isn’t just a job for us: it’s a point of pride. With this concern for the patients and our customers at the hospital above all else, our project manager Matt Kearly got straight to work.
To define a trip hazard, Matt explains that “Concrete being what it is, every winter the freeze thaw cycle wreaks havoc on hard surfaces such as concrete. But it doesn’t go back down to where it was originally, which warps the surface and creates problems.”
The goal was to remove the compromised ADA tiles and ramp areas and repour and replace them to create a smooth and accessible transition, executed throughout their entire campus. The job required a few thousand square feet of concrete and upwards of 60 plus areas that needed to be addressed.
It was the most intensive ADA restoration we’ve ever done.
As an additional challenge, due to the emergency nature of a hospital, the job needed to be broken out into phases over the course of 3 weeks to accommodate a clear path for ambulances. Access is what we were here to give the hospital – the trick was allowing access as we did.
We have extensive experience at this type of work. Weather luckily wasn’t an issue, but we could only get so much done in a day due to the meticulous nature of working in small areas while simultaneously facilitating foot, vehicle and ambulance traffic. For that reason, we couldn’t take up a hundred square feet footprint at any one time.
That’s why Matt devised a plan to move around the campus working in installments, without inconveniencing or closing off any one area. Our team is trained to be aware of surroundings at all times, and cognizant of traffic flow. Together, the 3 weeks flew by, installing a product we were proud of.
“It’s a fun challenge, and people are surprisingly grateful for the work you do,” shares Matt. “People who stop and say ‘thank you for doing this for us, it’s hard for us to walk, but now we finally don’t have to worry’. It puts a smile on your face knowing you helped them. Together, there’s nothing we can’t overcome.”
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