Inspections, inspections, inspections!

What an absolutely crazy day! And I thought Matt was stressed out last week-hah! Seriously, it was a very nerve wracking day. Why? Because if we didn't pass inspections today, then we couldn't start seeing patients tomorrow as scheduled.

Yeah, we started thinking this morning that that was probably not the best way to go about having a first official working day with patients in the office. So we did a bit of fudging and were able to shift out working days from Tues-Thurs to Wed-Fri. Normally, there would be no way to feasibly do this, but we got lucky-it is GA (general anesthesia) week. Which means that we only have 4 patients a day instead of 40-50 patients a day. So rescheduling this week was still a viable option for us, thank goodness.

What did a day of inspections mean for us? What didn't it mean?
First, the architects came by around 10:00. They started the "punch" list for things incompleted or not done very well workmanship wise. There wasn't anything of serious concern, but definitely some cosmetic issues such as areas lacking caulking, a few "butchered" tiles around outlets in the bathrooms, etc.
Then came the mechanical and electrical engineers. The building has been rather warm in some areas. The air system had not be "balanced" yet and it could definitely be felt. The mechanical engineer made some suggestions, and within an hour, the hot spots were cooling down.
The fire marshall arrived at 11:00. If we didn't pass his inspection, then nothing else mattered. Well, we didn't. At least right away. Some extinguishers needed to be moved or replaced. Signs had to be placed on the medical gas room doors. A couple of emergency lighting units were not working and had to be repaired. And a few more things. But we were able to call him back later, and we passed then.
Plumbing inspections have been a bit tedious. First, we had to have a second party verifier come in and do his own inspections on the medical gas and piping systems. He came and did so on Thursday last week. Today we had the city inspections. A few minor blips that were resolved on the spot, and that was also a pass. Tomorrow, we have the state medical gases inspection. It should go easily since the verifier already passed us, but there's always the chance...
Electrical passed. No major issues there.
City inspection went alright. There are still some things that need to be addressed (such as railing around ventilation units on the roof).

But we did get our temporary certificate of occupancy. Via phone. At 5 pm today. Whew!

And here's what the waiting room mural looked like tonight: