Ellerbe Becket associate and senior project manager Bob Friddle, AIA, LEED AP, along with Carol Tappen, director of the Park Nicollet Melrose Institute, co-presented “Use of Lean Methodologies to Improve Design, Efficiency, Treatment and the Patient Experience” at the SECAD.10 conference, held February 21-24, 2010 in Nashville, Tenn.

The presentation profiled the unique Melrose Institute, a special facility focused on the care of persons seeking treatment for eating disorders. This is the only program of its kind in the Midwest – medically based and dedicated solely to the treatment of eating disorders. The new building consolidates the services of the former Eating Disorders Institute at Methodist Hospital, and provides inpatient, outpatient and residential programs.

Park Nicollet was one of the first U.S. health care providers to use the Toyota Production System, also known as “Lean Production,” to reduce waste in elements such as inventory, space and time in order to produce more efficient, yet higher-quality care. One primary goal of the Melrose Institute was to build a facility that incorporated the Lean principles of creating value and efficiency while reducing waste within an environment that fosters safety and healing.

A unique aspect of this facility is that the building was conceived of and designed in tandem with the development of a new treatment model for eating disorders. This case study presentation examined how use of Lean methodologies affected the vision and outcome for the Melrose Institute and its treatment of eating disorders, with substantial improvements and success.

The pair also jointly accepted a Behavioral Healthcare magazine “Citation of Merit” Award for Architecture, presented during the conference. This represents the fifth design award bestowed upon the Melrose Institute since its opening in early 2009.

Founded in 1909, Ellerbe Becket is internationally recognized as a leader in the architecture, engineering and interior design industries. Now part of AECOM (NYSE: ACM), Ellerbe Becket is able to draw upon additional global planning, design and engineering resources, including city and regional planners, economists, environmental planners, ecologists, landscape architects and a range of transportation, energy and water experts as needed to serve the needs of our clients.