Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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
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
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