Natural light spills through large, often floor-to-ceiling windows in Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center's massive new hospital tower in Columbus' university district.
Computers, medical equipment and furniture are still covered in plastic and painter's tape still clings to some walls. Come late February, the tower will be a bustling hospital.
On Thursday, around 1,000 staff members, observers and mock patients spent the day practicing dozens of medical scenarios.
"It's a way to be able to test paths of travel, equipment. Does everybody understand their roles in the new place so that when day one happens, we've got it down pat?" said Rachel Arpin, a learning and development consultant at the nearby James Cancer Hospital who has been bringing people through the new building for orientations.
In the afternoon, clinical staff gathered in the dialysis unit on the 16th floor to practice treating a combative patient.
Chris Harrison, an administrator with OSU's endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism team, played the role of the patient.
Dialysis nurses ushered him into a bed.
"We'll have to draw some more blood for type and cross, and we'll send that down to the blood bank," the nurse said, though no real blood was drawn. Then, she prompted, "At some point, you become hostile."
Harrison, somewhat baffled, threw a towel across the room and managed a few shouts before breaking into laughter.
It may seem silly, but the run-through revealed a real problem: nurses discovered the room's breakaway doors folded in, instead of out as expected. The glass doors bumped against carts and equipment.
A transition consultant encouraged staff to think about what they would need to move out of the way if they did need to fold the doors in an emergency.
Meanwhile, mock code blues, indicating that fake patients needed immediate resuscitation, crackled over the loudspeakers as other scenarios unfolded in different parts of the building.
Thursday was the second of three practice days at the hospital.
"We want to make sure that all our staff and faculty are prepared on day one to provide the highest level care," said Dr. Deepak Rai, an internal medicine doctor and hospitalist with OSU. "A lot of it is just how do we do things with the new technology and the new space that is different from our legacy space?"
Rai said everyone also has to practice navigating the massive hospital. He was breathless after quickly coming from another part of the building.
Around 2,000 people have already been hired to work in the tower, with another roughly 150 positions still left to fill. The 1.9 million-square-foot building has been in development for about a decade.
It includes 820 private patient rooms, 234 of which are ICU beds. Those will replace and expand on the current 440 beds in the old University Hospital.
The building also has a sprawling cafe area on the second floor with access to a terrace that sports a meandering walking path and sitting areas that will have scarlet umbrellas.
Rai said for him, the new hospital is less about the glittering building itself, and more about what it represents.
"It represents to me our commitment to providing the highest level care to our community in central Ohio. That means world class care for every patient, every time," Rai said.
More than 400 patients will move into the new hospital on Feb. 22.
