House Organ: 50 Questions about One Hundred Oaks

What are the finance functions that are consolidating at One Hundred Oaks?

They include offices that handle coding and billing—functions currently housed in offices south of Blakemore Avenue, at Crystal Terrace and in other locations. About 400 of the VMC staff members moving to One Hundred Oaks are finance people. Since they are coming from several locations, they have been talking to each other and working together to “blend” their areas into a cohesive group.

The new work area at One Hundred Oaks will have 60,000 square feet and will have a reception/waiting area so that patients who want to discuss their bills will be able to do so.

Who are key members of the Vanderbilt team overseeing One Hundred Oaks?

C. Wright Pinson, M.D., associate vice chancellor for Clinical Affairs, is the executive sponsor of this program and chairs a steering committee comprised of key stakeholders in the overall plan for One Hundred Oaks. As a large multi-specialty clinic, David Posch, CEO of Vanderbilt Medical Group, is responsible for continued strategic planning. Cyril Stewart, Don Bolin, Ann McGauran, and Karin Smith are the architects in Space and Facilities who worked on the project from the beginning to bring together the programming, design and construction elements. Joel Lee, Jill Austin, and Joan Cato are leading the marketing team that met early on with focus groups to understand how this location might be received, and how best to position this second campus for Vanderbilt in the market. Diane Seloff joined the team as the Project Director and has been working with the leaders of about 17 project teams to address the construction and planning aspects of the project. The chief administrator of Vanderbilt Health at One Hundred Oaks is Janice Smith, R.N., M.Ed., who assumes responsibility of the second campus for operations, strategic planning and fiscal accountability.

What are some of the convenience features for staff
and faculty who work at One Hundred Oaks?

There is a strong desire that people who are assigned to One Hundred Oaks have a quality workplace that is still completely integrated with the main campus. This ranges from having ATMs at the mall to having several conference rooms with video-conferencing ability, in order to make it easy to “meet” with colleagues. Occupational Health will provide TB skin tests, vaccinations, lab draws for blood exposure follow-up, and blood pressure checks, among other services.

Are pagers available so patients can walk around
or shop without worrying about missing an appointment?

Yes. Patients who wish to leave the clinic area and go to the food court for a snack or a cup of coffee, can pick up a pager. When the clinic is ready, a text message will be sent to the pager, to let the patient know to return to the clinic entrance.

Will self-check-in be available to patients at One Hundred Oaks?

Yes. Patients will have the option of using a credit card or other magnetic stripe card (similar to airport check-in) to access a self-check-in kiosk. These kiosks will be located just outside each clinic front desk area, and will identify the patient, confirm personal and insurance information, collect the co-payment if he or she wants to pay there, and complete the check-in.

Will there be computers so patients can access My Health at Vanderbilt?

My Health at Vanderbilt is a secure online program specifically for Vanderbilt patients. Through this online program, patients can view their personal health information and communicate with their physicians via e-mail. Computer stations for patient/family access to My Health at Vanderbilt will be placed throughout the main mall waiting area, food court, and overall common area of Vanderbilt Health at One Hundred Oaks. In some cases, by accessing My Health at Vanderbilt prior to a clinic visit, patients can speed up the visit process.

The original Hundred Oaks, where the log house was, literally had 100 oaks on the land. Is Vanderbilt going to plant trees and landscape the area?

For the first time since the beginning of mall construction in 1965, there will be 100 oaks at One Hundred Oaks—Vanderbilt is participating with the mall’s owners in planting the oaks, along with other trees and bushes, to help the site look better and reduce its carbon footprint.

Does Vanderbilt own One Hundred Oaks?

No. Vanderbilt has signed a 12-year lease with the current developers and owners of 100 Oaks. This lease does include a future ability to purchase property at 100 Oaks. It also means that some improvements—landscaping, exterior upgrades and leases for restaurants outside the mall—are being done by the mall owners in conjunction with Vanderbilt, but not by Vanderbilt.

So, who does own the mall?

The owners of the mall are Dallas-based developers Frank Mihalopoulos and Tony Ruggeri.

The last time I was in the upstairs mall area at 100 Oaks, it was not particularly attractive. It fact, it was kind of creepy. Has it been remodeled?

You won’t recognize it. The clinic facades, the flooring, the seating—everything about the interior has been carefully considered to provide a pleasant environment for patients, families, staff and faculty. There have even been windows and skylights added to bring more daylight into the concourse. This is one attractive place to be, as you can tell from the artists’ renderings in this issue.

Why are the moves timed every two weeks or so apart?

To better use resources, and so the same IT and phone people, for example, can work on each move. Also, if problems come up with one move, it gives two weeks to correct the problem before the next move.