LOS ANGELES—The design-build team of Hensel Phelps | HMC Architects | CO Architects has been selected to lead the design and construction of a new Harbor-UCLA Medical Center Replacement Program.

The program will consolidate medical services into new facilities on the 72-acre campus and ensure Harbor-UCLA Medical Center complies with Senate Bill 1953, which takes effect in 2030 and requires all California hospitals to be structurally resilient in the event of a major earthquake.

On Feb. 8th, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the $1.695-billion capital project for the medical center in West Carson, Calif.

“I’m excited to lead this design-build team of healthcare design and construction experts to deliver this magnificent, state-of-the-art facility,” Hensel Phelps Program Manager Sandra Ichiho, RA, LEED AP, said. “Through this project, the County will create hundreds of local jobs and millions of dollars in business opportunities for the local community.”

The project consists of new construction of a 468,000-square-foot acute care inpatient tower with 346 beds, a helicopter landing pad, and an 11,000-square-foot warehouse; a 403,000-square-foot outpatient treatment and support building and 381,000-square-foot above-grade parking structure; a 23,000-square-foot facilities and IT support building, and a new 24,000-square-foot central plant.

Consolidating inpatient and outpatient services into new buildings that optimize operational effectiveness, the medical center project reduces operation and maintenance costs, provides outpatient facilities that accommodate planned patient visits, implements the county’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Development (LEED) requirements by incorporating sustainable design features, and creates a campus designed for the well-being of patients and staff.

“Adding a million square feet to an existing 70-year-old campus creates significant planning and cost challenges,” HMC Architects’ Healthcare Practice Leader Kirk Rose, AIA, DBIA, said. “Our design will optimize operational flow and throughput, arrange the program at a very efficient cost, and create a beautiful new outdoor space for community enjoyment.”

Targeting LEED Gold certification, the medical center upgrade will develop a modern campus that serves the community’s healthcare needs while also aiming to protect the environment in which it’s built.

“The new Harbor-UCLA Medical Center will consolidate the patient experience around a central park, providing easy wayfinding and access to both inpatient and outpatient services through this natural center,” CO Architects’ Principal Gina Chang, AIA, EDAC, said. “In the new facility, staff and caregivers will have a structure of team-based spaces that emphasize collaboration and the delivery of high-quality healthcare, as well as spaces that enable teaching in both clinical and educational environments.”

The post Design-Build Team Named for Massive SoCal Medical Center Upgrade appeared first on HCO News.

SUN CITY, Ariz.—General contractor McCarthy Building Companies has finished construction of the new emergency department at the Banner Boswell Medical Center, located in Phoenix’s northwestern suburbs. The new 40,000-square-foot center began accepting patients in October.

The emergency department increased the medical center’s capacity from 42 to 56 beds, which the hospital estimated would translate into being able to care for 60,000 extra patients per year.

The emergency center is just one piece of a $106 million expansion to the Banner Boswell Medical Center, which also entails a 322,000-square-foot patient tower being built from the ground up. The first floor of that patient tower is scheduled to be online in the early part of 2021, and will entail the admitting desk, chapel as well as retail space and a gift shop. Five floors above the lobby level will be reserved specifically for inpatient rooms to be opened at a future date.

McCarthy maintains they were able to save both time and money by prefabricating 625 wall panels for the Banner Boswell project prior to delivery to the jobsite—which also was undertaken for safety reasons so as to allow for social distancing measures in the coronavirus pandemic. Every panel was 8 feet tall by 30 feet wide, and the weight of each panel was over a ton. More than 100 of the prefabricated panels were placed on the medical facility’s interior alone.

McCarthy estimates this prefabrication saved three months in the ultimate timeline of construction work.

“We knew it was critical for Banner Boswell to open early and in time for the busy fall and winter season, and we’re thrilled to meet that goal,” Chris Nickle, executive vice president of McCarthy Building Companies, said in a recent statement.

McCarthy worked on the medical facility alongside designer HMC Architects.

“We are thrilled about the extra capacity that will serve the growing needs of the community for generations to come,” Sharon Lind, CEO of Banner Boswell Medical Center, said in a recent statement. “This new ED and patient tower lobby will truly transform our Boswell campus and create a welcoming experience.”

The post McCarthy Wraps New Arizona Emergency Department appeared first on HCO News.

VALENCIA, Calif.—The Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital, located in the Los Angeles suburb area of Valencia, has been honored with the National Award of Merit in the Healthcare Facilities category, which is awarded by the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA).

The hospital was first constructed in 1975, but in October 2019 a $151 million patient tower was added to the facility as part of the first phase of a master redesign plan.  At that time, the hospital announced that the addition had added 119 more patient beds as well as two additional surgery suites in the hospital’s Center for Women and Newborns.

Among the tower’s complement of services are a maternity ward that encompasses seven labor and delivery rooms, 22 post- and antepartum rooms, two C-section operating rooms, and three medical-surgical floors.  In addition, the tower is home to a brand-new kitchen and cafeteria space.

The new tower was designed by design-builder Bernards in conjunction with HMC Architects.  The firms said that their layout for the 160,000-square-foot, six-story patient tower was designed speficially with the patient experience in mind, but it also had a bit of a puzzle on its hands considering that the tower had to be effectively situated among three existing buildings already on the healthcare campus.  Accordingly, Bernards and HMC said they moved part of the foundation and “provided more square footage by cantilevering C-section rooms over an existing building.”

Furthermore, the uniqueness of the design addition of the new tower leaves open the door for future expansion.

The design also took an effort to ensure that the outside was incorporated into the interior look of the tower itself.  Accordingly, large windows in waiting areas and corridors allow in more sunlight and views of the outdoors, which the designers believe lessens the anxiety inherent in visiting a hospital.  Additionally, consultation rooms allow for views of the surrounding Santa Clarita Valley.

In a statement emailed to HCO News, Kirk Rose, HMC Architects’ chief practice officer, said that the Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital represented an “intensely collaborative design-build process.”

“Risk was shared across all parties, from the architect to the general contractor to the subcontractors, and everybody made success of the project—not their individual interests—priority number one,” Rose said.  “Our team’s leadership philosophy encouraged complete open communication and engagement of all team members with each other, [the] owner and user groups.

“The result is a spectacular new tower that fits seamlessly into the existing hospital campus, and will serve California’s Santa Clarita Valley community now and for future generations.”

Because of the DBIA National Award of Merit in the Healthcare Facilities nod, the Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital automatically becomes a nominee for the National Award of Excellence in the Healthcare Facilities category, which is the highest honor within each category.

The post L.A. County Hospital Wins National Merit Award appeared first on HCO News.

LOS ANGELES-HMC Architects is among the latest design brands to manufacture face shields for healthcare workers in response to the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

Using the Columbia University Library Studios information as a guide, the design firm is applying its fabrication capabilities and Ultimaker 3D printers to manufacture PPE face shields and make them available to hospitals and clinics in its communities.

The United States is currently facing a face mask shortage as novel coronavirus continues to sweep through the nation; as of March 31 there are more than 161,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 3,000 deaths. There are companies trying their best to provide custom coronavirus mask and shields for essential workers.

“As architects, we design to make people’s lives better,” said HMC President and CEO Brian Staton. “If there was any time for innovative design firms to step up and provide resources to make a difference in the lives of our communities, it’s right now. We hope to distribute as many as we can to support the efforts of our heroic healthcare workers.”

With 3D printers running all day, every day from remote (work from home) locations in Los Angeles, San Diego, San Jose, Sacramento, and Ontario, Calif., HMC designers are estimating up to 35 face shields per day. According to Staton, HMC will continue to print as long as they have material to print with.

The face shields are made up of three parts:

An elastic headband holding the shield in place on the healthcare worker’s head; A 3D-printed headband connecting the elastic to the transparent shield that rests on the healthcare worker’s forehead; A transparent shield made of PETG (a thin, clear impermeable plastic).

Using 3D models provided by from the Columbia University Library Studios website, the firm is able to coordinate a lot of information at the same time to fabricate the 3D printed headband that connects the elastic to the shield. HMC is sourcing the face shield material (PETG 30 mil sheet material) from Riverside Plastics, a local Southern California plastic supplier. Other materials such as foam weather stripping for comfort and all-day use, elastic straps for the headbands, and Ziploc bags for packaging are being sourced from local hardware and fabric retailers.

During and after the items have been produced, HMC designers are sanitizing the shields and packaging them for distribution. The firm is putting together a distribution strategy and are in the process of connecting with healthcare organizations most in need and plans to begin distributing the face shields by next week. HMC has also been in touch with other local architecture firms in the hopes that their work inspires others to join their effort

HMC joins the list of other innovative design brands-such as Under Armour, New Balance, Chanel and Ralph Lauren-to find creative ways to respond to the shortage caused by COVID-19.

Earlier reports suggested if coronavirus would be declared a pandemic-which the WHO did declare on March 11-medical workers in the country would need an estimated 3.5 billion face masks over the year, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Luckily there are different face mask types, which hospitals and surgeries can procure from many different companies like MedisupplyWarehouse.

HMC Architects is a healthcare, education, and civic architecture firm with a sustainable approach to design; it was founded in 1940.

The post HMC Architects Manufactures Face Shields for Healthcare Workers appeared first on HCO News.

However, the air that we breathe, some 10,800 litres every day, makes up 99.94 percent of everything that we consume yet comes in for little scrutiny. That’s also true in our places of work: Someone with a full-time job will spend an average of 1,800 hours every year in their office, and one manifestation of that is occupational asthma, which makes up to 15 percent of all adult-onset asthma cases in the developed world. For this reason, many office buildings will frequently have their air filtration systems inspected and bring in an air duct cleaning service to ensure that the system is regularly maintained.

Putting that in context, occupational asthma is the most common work-related lung disease in developed countries and is caused by occupational exposure to airborne substances known as asthmagens. Hundreds of respiratory sensitizers have already been classified and others are being identified all the time.

Across the world, the incidence of asthma is on the increase as more people adopt western lifestyles and become exposed to greater numbers of asthmagens. Internationally, according to the World Health Organization, there are an estimated 235 million asthma sufferers.

The most important risk factors for developing asthma are a combination of genetic predisposition and environmental exposure to inhaled substances and particles that may provoke allergic reactions or irritate the airways everything from pollen and dust mites to animal dander and adhesives. Miniscule dust particles settle in the lungs, and the smallest particles can end up in the bloodstream with potentially serious consequences. To prevent serious issues like these, it could be as simple as cleaning regularly or even finding out what the best mattress brand is, in the hopes of replacing any old mattresses. As dust mites like to make a home for themselves in mattresses, it would be best to be safe than sorry.

It’s the reason why health and safety regulations relating to indoor air quality have become increasingly stringent across the developed and developing world. For today’s employers, it’s about recognizing and dealing with the problem by adopting appropriate preventative and control strategies and by the early identification of individuals within the workplace suffering from pre-existing asthma or potentially suffering from occupational asthma. Due to this, many employers are trying their best to improve the workplace’s air quality, whether it is bringing in plants, ensuring that the building has proper ventilation systems, or installing a HVAC system that purifies the air. You can Learn more here. Employers are taking the time to put in preventative measures to safeguard the health of their employees.

Prevention and control starts with a workplace assessment to identify potential asthmagens and, thereafter, an exchange of views between the employer, employees and workplace health and safety professionals on appropriate strategies to minimize or eliminate exposure for example, installing a better ventilation system or placing dangerous chemicals in a fume cupboard. At its simplest, apart from an absolute ban on indoor smoking, dust, chemicals, perfumes and air fresheners are the most likely to cause problems and those can be easily addressed.

Some employers now have guidelines to ensure their own offices are safe for asthma sufferers for example, asking staff not to wear perfume or aftershave at work, to use unscented soaps, deodorants and hair products and not to smoke immediately before coming into the office. Those guidelines also require non-volatile cleaning products and unscented air fresheners to be used.

However, in those instances where a significant risk is identified, continued health surveillance might also be required, involving a programme of spirometry [lung function] testing, to detect early indications of disease and provide appropriate medical advice to individual employees.

At the end of last year, The Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) finalised an exploratory study into the relationship between particulate matter in indoor air and the presence of soft or hard flooring.

One of the findings of the study was that textile floor coverings absorb more particulates from the air than their hard equivalents. This is due to the larger micro-surface of soft flooring and its better contact between surface and the air. As a result, the presence of a textile floor covering can limit the concentration of airborne particulate matter indoors.

The exploratory study was performed on behalf of carpet manufacturer Desso, which has developed a product intended to reduce the concentration of particulates in indoor air.

The study was conducted under the direction of Dr Jan Duyzer of TNO. He comments, Neither Europe nor the US have legislation in place to deal with the quality of indoor air in relation to particulate matter.

The report confirms that the concentration of airborne particulates in buildings and homes with soft floor coverings is lower than in comparable spaces with hard flooring. Duyzer adds, To what extent the concentration in specific cases is reduced as a result of the presence of floor covering depends on the ventilation used. However, in most cases, the reduction appears significant.

According to a study performed by the German Allergy and Asthma Association (DAAB) it is proven that the burden of fine dust is dramatically reduced when using carpet, as opposed to hard flooring.

With the introduction of Desso AirMaster, this functionality has been taken to the next level. Its patented technology has been specially developed to capture and retain hazardous particulate matter. In fact, Desso AirMaster is eight times more effective in capturing and retaining fine dust than hard flooring and four times more effective than standard carpet solutions (PM10), making it the most effective flooring solution to capture fine dust from the air.

It is the carpets structure that delivers this functionality. The high pile consists of ultra fine yarn filaments (Desso AirFilters), capturing and retaining the smallest particulate matter ( 10m). The coarser dust is captured in the thicker yarns of the lower pile (Desso DustCollectors). The open product structure ensures that dust is easily released during cleaning, to ensure maximum regeneration of the carpets filtering functionality. Using the like of professional carpet cleaning services like this carpet cleaning High Wycombe company or others, on such a carpet product can greatly improve air quality and maintain a fresh-looking carpet consistently.

AirMaster was specifically developed to contribute towards improved indoor air quality in busy interior environments such as hospitals and offices anywhere where large numbers of people are treading in fine dust or other particulate matter and then, when inside, stirring it up into the breathing zone.

It might seem an unusual solution in the battle for better indoor air quality, but its been extremely well received internationally by health and safety, facility and personnel professionals who recognise the importance of maintaining good indoor air quality.

Whats on the floor might not be a complete solution to occupational asthma, but it can help considerably.

www.desso.com

The post Improving Indoor Air Quality in Hospitals appeared first on HCO News.