Dimensions of offsite distribution: a case study

How does Support Services maintain user confidence while moving the laundry and central supply departments offsite? That challenge faced The Mont Sinai Medical Center, a 1112-bed Manhattan hospital and medical school, as it prepared for a 5-year, $488 million major modernization program, set to begin in the summer of 1985. Users were openly mistrustful of relocating two departments which had provided responsive on-site services to the hospital and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine since their incorporation in 1852 and 1963, respectively. Yet, the transition to temporary offsite facilities was structured, and generated sufficient user confidence to facilitate a planned move to permanent, state-of-the-art facilities and systems.