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Project Paper
Raleigh Brown
Operations Manual for Piedmont Athens Regional – Oconee Health Campus

For my project, I decided to create an operations manual for the entire facility of

Piedmont Athens Regional – Oconee Health Campus. This project was a no-brainer due to the

fact that Terry Walker, our business development manager, admitted he was the only one in the

facility who knew the ins and outs of the equipment. As soon as I mentioned documenting the

information, he suggested for me to create a manual for others to use if any machine

malfunctioned. In many ways, creating the operations manual was going to provide a safe and

accurate way to manage these pieces of equipment. Terry was ecstatic to know that there would

be an actual hard copy of guidelines to operating the machinery around the facility.

Mr. Terry took another business manager and me around the facility, introducing us to

the equipment and important information I would need to include regarding each device. I took

detailed notes as we went to each machine. Several questions were asked during this time and it

became a team effort to make sure all the information was documented. This process continued

for three whole days before I had written notes about all of the equipment. I then began typing

out all of the information onto a word document. It was a challenge trying to remember what

notes went with which equipment so I referred back to my manager for clarification. Once

everything was electronically documented, I sent it to Mr. Terry to be proof-read. He sent back

notes to be added or corrected and I changed the information accordingly. It took several tries to

get everything finalized. I was then cleared to begin formatting the information into an actual

manual booklet. I used Microsoft Word for this project. Some equipment in this manual included

HVAC Control (heating, ventilation, and air conditioner), the handicap dorma doors,
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CrossChx/Secure Passes, the fire alarm system, the sound masking system, ExacqVision

(security cameras), music system, and the U.S. flag management. Under each appliance, I

documented what the piece of equipment was, how to manage smaller glitches, who to contact if

it needs major maintenance, where the equipment piece was located in the building, and a picture

of what each item looked like. The entire booklet consisted of a cover page, a table of contents,

descriptions of each piece of equipment, and additional contacts. My cover page displayed the

Piedmont Athens Regional – Oconee Health Campus address, phone number, and picture of the

building. I placed two pieces of equipment per page so I could have enough room to include all

of the information and pictures without overcrowding. Additional contacts was created to

provide contacts with other companies that Piedmont is involved with. Examples of additional

contacts is Standard Textiles, Roll Off Systems, and Walton EMC.

The entire manual was created in Microsoft Word. It was 15 pages long that included a

cover page, table of contents, equipment descriptions, and additional contacts. It will be printed

out in color and placed inside a booklet protector. I used Microsoft PowerPoint to present the

project. I printed a presentation outline for each person in the audience to use to follow along and

keep for later reference. I also printed out one hardcopy of the manual for the audience to look

through and pass around. After the entire operations manual was complete and I presented the

project to my supervisors, I had a chance to sit down with them and evaluate my work. The

biggest thing we decided that I should alter in my manual are the pictures. I would include many

more pictures for each machine. I talk about how and where to go to reset the device, but it can

sometimes be difficult to find the reset button when there are several buttons in the same

vicinity. I needed to make sure I was describing these steps as if the person reading it has never

seen the machinery. The process of operating the machine would be much clearer if one could
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envision what the reset or volume button actually looked like instead of just reading a brief

description. Other smaller changes I would make would be lightening the background color and

increasing the font size.

Creating a version 1 operations manual for this facility felt like an honor. I provided the

staff with detailed procedures and information about the machinery and condensed it into a

booklet and, in return, I learned a great deal about how various equipment worked in a healthcare

building. I got exposure to what we are independently able to control with the devices such as the

temperature controls of the HVAC unit, the information on the outdoor digital sign, and the

hanging of the U.S. flag on holidays. The fact that they trusted me to have this information,

know several passwords to the equipment, and correctly document the procedures used for

maintenance really built my confidence and capability during this process. I hope this operations

manual will make a big impact on the safety and efficiency at Piedmont Athens Regional –

Oconee Health Campus. I do not believe I would have gotten to partake in this type of

experience at any other internship and for that I am very grateful.

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