The University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA has long been a loyal Herman Miller customer. Our local dealer, Creative, has tried on many occasions to penetrate the account with modest success, but they never gave up. Knowing that there were a number of new projects on the horizon, the UVA Health System was a target that the dealer believed, with the combination of Nurture's product portfolio and value proposition, could bring success. 

Carl Hooper, Creative's VP of Sales, and Amanda Dvoracek, Creative's Account Manager for UVA, made initial calls to Michael Payne, in Planning and Capital Development at UVA Health, and developed an understanding of their issues and needs. They contacted John Horn, Nurture Area Healthcare Manager, to brainstorm action steps for a follow up meeting.  The discussion included everything from a possible Cerner connection to specific product solutions for immediate use. The team decided that they would invite a group that included Mr. Payne and select members from UVA Health as well as representatives from Pye Interiors, a local A&D firm, to a luncheon where John would present Nurture's Experiences in Outpatient Care CEU course. The discussion gave the customer a new understanding of how we approach healthcare and the insights that have lead to some of our newest product development solutions. The lunch was a great success and led to further discussion as to how UVA Health, Creative, and Nurture can work together. The UVA Health team appreciated the concept of modularity and admitted they had been considering this idea during their initial planning.  

 

A few days later, Amanda had received a copy of the current floor plans from Mr. Payne with a proposed Herman Miller Ethospace solution drawn in. Our task was to produce a plan on how we would interpret the space and then to meet with the customer to present our plan. UVA Health was very impressed; not only with our solution, but also with the capabilities that Creative could bring to the table. To date, the success is 12 caregiver stations that include Montage Modular Solutions and Think seating, as well as patient room boards that were greatly preferred to those of two major competitors. Most importantly, this success will lead to increased opportunities for Nurture, Creative and UVA Health to collaborate in the future.