Dr. Irwin began looking for property and decided on a location just a few blocks away from his practice. It also was directly across the street from the orthodontist. “I knew [the site] was an investment for the future, maybe five or seven years down the road,” he said. “Instead, it turned out to be about two years.”
On the Right Track
With the addition in 2006 of Dr. Travis Johnson, a 2001 graduate of the University of California – San Francisco Dental School, as well as the space constraints and a schedule booked months in advance, Dr. Irwin decided to go for the new build and he contacted Bottiger to begin. “I would never assume that I’m going to be able to design an office space for myself the first time,” he said. “One of the best investments I made was to get Patterson involved.”
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A good friend of Dr. Irwin’s, James Shouten, owner of Mill Creek Construction, a residential construction company, was eager to get his feet wet with contract building projects. He and the doctor met frequently after playing basketball to brainstorm about the practice and sketch Dr. Irwin’s dream design. He envisioned a two-story practice with 12 operatories, private offices for five doctors and a staff meeting space on the second floor. “I want to relax sometimes after work, and want a place for my team to feel like they can as well,” he said.
To complete the design, Patterson Equipment Specialist Charlie Newman helped Dr. Irwin contract with S. J. Barrett & Associates, a Seattle-based firm with whom he’d worked for more than 20 years. S. J. Barrett was responsible for the building design, and Newman and Bottiger helped with the dental design.
Dr. Irwin was eager to work with the firm after he saw some of their work, including the design for Dr. Frank Spears, a Seattle dentist and educator whom he admires. “One of the group’s associates, Bobbie Chapman, lives in Port Angeles and we worked closely with her to get her the information she needed to know to successfully set up the design,” Newman said.
Equipment selection for operatories was the first step, so Bottiger and Newman took Dr. Irwin to the A-dec facility in Newburg, Ore. He and Dr. Riggs brought along their staff so they could test out a variety of equipment and come to a group consensus about the best selection. “Dr. Riggs and Dr. Irwin already had A-dec – it’s highly recommended by our service technicians. The doctors didn’t even look at anything else,” Bottiger said.
For all 12 operatories, the team chose A-dec rear delivery systems, which easily switch from right-handed to left-handed delivery; several of the operatories are set up with Dr. Irwin’s preferred delivery system. He selected the latest in digital technologies for the operatories, including Schick intraoral cameras and PLANMECA Intra intraoral X-ray. “Anybody who’s considering going digital, don’t hesitate. Patterson will help you through it and patients love it,” Dr. Irwin said. “I love it too, especially the time savings of digital radiography.”
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