New Nurse Practitioner Clinic - utility usage question
January 9, 2008 by bcp
Filed under NP Practice, Startup
Jan, a Nurse Practitioner in NC, is opening a brand new clinic in Stokesdale. She asks this questions about water usage.
I am opening a clinic in an area that is on a septic tank and the owners are asking for water bills to try and figure out what my usage might be. I don’t have that information to give them and was wondering what your clinic’s average water bill/usage is. I will have 3 exam rooms, a lab and 2 bathrooms. The owners have to submit this information to the county before I can get approval.
Jan, you might try and get that information from existing clinics in neighboring towns. Look for clinics in similar size and traffic that you anticipate. It’s really hard to estimate usage when you’ve not done this before…I know! As far as my usage…I have no idea. My lease includes all utilities, so I don’t really know.
Anyone else?
I am in a rural area of Mississippi (Brandon, MS) and I pay all of my utilities separate and my water bill is about 10 - $11.00 per month… but I also do not see a lot of patients yet…. Someone at the water company should be able to tell you something….I don’t know if this helps… but a plumber may be helpful or maybe even a building contractor… someone should who will provide similar services I would say may be helpful to you…. Much Success
Thank you! I have done a little homework and was able to come up with an average of 8.5 Gallons of water usage a day for each person in the building. So if I only have 2 people working in the clinic, we should use about 340 gallons a month. It was my best “guestimate”. The good news is the engineers have OK’d my plans and we are set to start upfitting the interior!
That is wonderful. Good luck with your new office! As an aside, for anyone that is leasing space inside of a building, I have a “non plumbed” sink in my exam room. I bought it used for 100.00, and it used to be inside a retail clinic. You fill the water below from a hose or sink with clean water. It operates on a foot pump to pump the water through the faucet into the sink, and there is a heat pump that is electric to heat the water. It is very efficient, and gives me running water in my exam room where there is no plumbing. This would be good for rural areas too where there is little access to plumbing. If you do not want the hot water, it does not even need to plug in. It is portable on wheels.
Jan,
Great to hear that you are opening a clinic in Stokesdale. Where will it be located? I could not tell from the picture…I would like for you to email me if you have time or choose to…I have some questions about the NP program…I am applying to UNCG in the fall and would like to have my own clinic/practice in a rural area…Thanks!
Jan,
I am happy for you and wish you all the best. I have some questions though, as I would like to do the same, but do not understand the NC system. I recently moved here from outer State. Would it be possible to e-mail me/ go into a little more details?
Thanks