Lasting Order was recently invited to the University of Evansville to help organize the storage room for the physical therapy (PT) and physician's assistant (PA) programs at the Stone Family Center for Health Sciences. A job of this type was a first for us, but our team was up for a challenge! Part of the challenge was to give each program equal storage space in the shared closet to improve the overall physical therapy organization.

Today we'll share 5 strategies we used to help get this space back in order. 

1. Empty out all boxes and utilize clear containers

Most of the physical therapy medical supplies were still in the cardboard boxes they were shipped in. First, our organizers emptied all of the boxes and moved items to clear bins, so things inside could be seen quickly.

2. Put like items together

Thinking in terms of "departments" (similar to a department store or hardware store), the organizers helped decide what belonged in each department by what the items were used for. Very different than others we've worked in, this storage room had a huge variety of different materials—many of which were bulky—plus two different university programs who were sharing one storage room. Starting with the "marketing department"—notebooks, pens, t-shirts, bags, and all other logo items handed out at an education fair or to students—we created its own section and sorted items by type into bins, labeling them as we went. After that, an "events department" was created, which now contains water, coffee, paper products, and snacks used for events.

Creating more "departments"

There were also a lot of cases of different medical equipment, such as skeletons, kits for doing IVs and catheters, wound care supplies, etc., in this particular storage room. Organizers grouped all of the cases of each type together, labeled them, and then sorted them onto shelves by department. For example, the CPR dummies are now stored next to all of the airway and breathing supplies in the "breathing department." That is not really an official medical term, but hey—we are professional organizers, not doctors! :) Similarly, a "surgery department" was created for the surgical supplies, a "catheter department" for all of the cath supplies, etc.

3. Shop from the closet

Team members also stocked the cabinets inside the therapy/classroom space with frequently used items like gloves, bandage rolls, and sterile gauze, many of which are purchased in bulk. Fitting as much as we could into the cabinets, we then stored the remaining items in the storage closet. After the classes are over, the cabinets can be restocked from the closet before the next round of classes.

4. Label, label, and label some more

Used by a lot of people from both the PT and PA programs, the therapy/classroom space needed things to be easy to find. Our team labeled the outside of each cabinet, as well as the shelf and the bin inside the cabinet. Now, if someone removes a bin, they can see which cabinet and shelf to return the bin to. In addition, linens were spread out throughout the area, so a "linen department" was created, and items were sorted by type—sheets, pillowcases, large towels, medium towels, etc. Lastly, each shelf was labeled. Not only does this make it much quicker to find what you're looking for, but it also helps the person putting linens away to know where each item goes.

5. Utilize vertical space

Physical therapy departments have a lot of oddly shaped equipment, such as crutches, wheelchairs, exercise balls, and human dummies. When we started, these materials filled the floorspace of the long, narrow storage room. Using vertical space is a great strategy to help get these items off the floor. Pegboard, big hooks, and shelving are key! 

For instance, we:

Using these methods, the additional floor space we created was huge!

As a result, there was room to store the other equipment, such as IV poles, medical carts, and instrument trays that weren't able to be hung.

In the end, there was plenty of floor space, an organized therapy space/classroom, and an organized (and equally divided) storage closet for both the PT and PA departments to share. There you have it—5 strategies to organize your physical therapy department storage, so your employees (or students) can be successful. (And we hope you have as much fun as we did!)

Lasting Order offers professional organizing and productivity consulting services to businesses around the US. If we can be of assistance to your business, contact us today at 812-858-2457. Learn more here!