Given that most health records are now stored electronically, the planners took electronic access into account when designing exam rooms in the new building. Doctors and nurses now have the ability to view patient records and order labs or medications from the exam rooms, again adding to the efficiency of the office. Davis and Kelley agree that this increased efficiency further improves the patient experience at Harbin Clinic Pediatrics. “This new office is not built for the doctors and nurses… It was really built for [the children]. I think the building is truly mirroring what they already know about our practice: that they are the priority,” she says.
For these pediatricians, it’s important to maintain a space where their patients feel comfortable. “It is important to me that we know each of our patients by name,” Davis says. She explains that they include pictures in patient records to get to know the patients better, and they change the pictures as children grow.
According to Davis and Kelley, patients and their families are already loving the new space. “All the feedback so far has been positive,” Kelley says. Davis adds that she has enjoyed seeing her patients make themselves at home in the space. “I had one little boy who brought his matchbox cars and had them lined up in the window ledge,” she says. “I was just glad he was moving in and making himself at home in his new doctor’s office.”
Davis is excited that this new facility gives the practices an opportunity for growth. In the future, she and Dr. Henaro Sabino hope to expand their hours even further. They currently open at 7 a.m., giving parents the option to bring children in before school or work. Davis says that they eventually hope to expand their hours in the evening as well to provide even more availability for patients.
After about a year of construction, the new facility opened for appointments on July 20, and Harbin team members and Rome community leaders gathered at the Harbin Clinic campus on August 18 for a ribbon cutting ceremony. Under a tent in the parking lot, community leaders spoke about Harbin Clinic’s importance in Rome and the benefits that this new pediatric facility will bring. The Honorable Bill Collins, mayor of Rome, said that he couldn’t imagine a better time for this building to be opening, and the Honorable Scotty Hancock, chairman of the Floyd County Commission, called the facility’s opening “a bright spot in a tough year.” Harbin CEO Kenna Stock thanked the physicians who have put so much work into their practices.
“While the building is beautiful and we’re very proud of it, it’s really just the stage for the work that they do,” she says. “That’s where the heart of Harbin Clinic is.”