TAMPA, Fla. – The second phase of the $300 million Florida Hospital in Tampa is currently underway; tapping HuntonBrady of Orlando as the architect and Robins and Morton of Birmingham, Ala., as the general contractor.

The expansion project includes 24 brand new operating rooms, a new hospital entrance and over 100 all private dedicated surgical care beds.

Construction of the first phase of the project consisted of expanding an existing parking garage located near the Pepin Heart Institute by 300 spaces.

The second phase is comprised of building a new six-story surgical tower, which began in October 2018, and will concentrate on pancreatic and liver surgery as well as neurology while also providing more beds, operating rooms and parking.

“This is a state-of-the-art project that will provide specialty care in Tampa Bay that you can’t find anywhere else in our area,” said Brian Adams, president and CEO of Florida Hospital Tampa. “Our goal is to design a surgical tower that isn’t just relevant today, but will be relevant 30 years from now, combining surgical innovation and the most advanced robotic technologies with the nation’s best physicians.”

The expansion also includes 314,000-square-feet in six floors, 140,000-square-feet dedicated to surgery in operating rooms, and pre- and post-operative care and sterile processing.

The project will create a 132-bed capacity growth including 24 in the surgical intensive care unit and 72 in progress care as well as 36 beds for future growth.

“This is about more than growth and expansion, this is about connecting our community to the kind of expert health care that’s needed and delivering it with Florida Hospital’s unique brand of inspired, compassionate care,” said Mike Schultz, President and CEO of Florida Hospital West Florida Division.

The Taneja Center for Innovative Surgery at Florida Hospital Tampa is expected to open in 2021 and will bring an estimated 117 new clinical jobs in the first year, and 587 new jobs by the fifth year.

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TYLER, Texas — The Christus Trinity Mother Frances Health System in Tyler broke ground April 3 on an expansion of the Christus Mother Frances Hospital. This expansion is a two-part project that includes a new parking garage and a tower that will house an Emergency Care Center, Intensive Care Units and multiple support services, with additional space for future growth.

The 186,452-square-foot tower will have a skywalk leading to the 297,300-square-foot, 850-space parking garage. The combined budget for the two-part project is approximately $92.1 million. This expansion is a coordinated effort between HDR Architects, SSR Engineering and McCarthy Contractors — all based out of Dallas — and Walter P. Moore out of Houston. Construction on the parking garage began in May, projected for completion in Jan. 2018. Construction on the tower is projected to begin after the completion of the parking garage in Feb. 2018, with construction completion scheduled for fall of 2019.

The overall goal of the hospital expansion is twofold, according to Kyle Rutherford, associate vice president for construction services at Christus Trinity Mother Frances Health System. Part one is the construction of the parking garage to alleviate current parking issues for the hospital, and part two is to improve the existing Emergency Care Center (ECC) and ICU capabilities of the hospital. “The ECC will have a linear design that will include all private rooms to improve patient privacy and positively impact infection control,” said Rutherford.

Additionally, the new ECC will bring leading-edge technology, improved patient flow, air flight and ground transportation accessibility to improve wait time and length of stay.

The plans for the expansion include 48 private treatment rooms in the ECC, with dedicated pediatric-friendly rooms and a surge capacity to 52 to allow up to 90,000 visits annually. “The existing ECC was constructed to receive approximately 45,000 visits each year, and we’ve averaged more than 80,000 visits annually for some time now, making us the busiest ECC in the area,” said Rutherford.

The new tower will have six levels, with a range of services in the basement, a state-of-the-art- emergency care center on level one, a 24-bed ICU on both levels three and four, with level five yet undesignated, open for future growth needs. The expansion’s final level includes a rooftop with two helipads that will bring the medical center’s “Flight For Life” program into a new area with direct ECC access, improving accessibility to ECC care.

“The expansion will provide covered parking for all visitors, as well as an ECC that will improve throughput and decrease wait times in a private and comfortable environment, especially for our pediatric patients and their families,” said Rutherford. The ICU design will allow the clinical staff to have bedside clinical documentation, continuous patient observation and a “hospitality room” feel, according to Rutherford. “Support services will be readily available, reducing the distance staff will need to travel, minimizing time away from patients,” said Rutherford. Additionally, interior enhancements of water features, indirect lighting and other planned aesthetic improvements for the hospital were chosen to reduce stress and create a calming and healing environment for patients.

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The architects on the project are Shepley Bulfinch in Phoenix and GLHN Architects & Engineers in Tucson. The construction contractor was a joint venture (Sundt|DPR, A Joint Venture) between Sundt Construction in Tucson and DPR Construction located in Phoenix. This was the seventh joint venture partnership for Sundt and DPR Construction. The whole team broke ground on the tower in May 2016, according to a recent statement, while completion is currently slated for 2019.

The budget for this 670,000-square-foot project and renovations on the existing 75,000-square-foot facility is $400 million, with $50 million of that going to new patient care equipment and computers for state-of-the-art care. The new tower will be nine stories tall, and will have a new main entryway, new cafeteria and support departments on the first floor, according to a statement.

There will be new diagnostic imaging, diagnostic cardiology, cardiac cath labs and interventional radiology on the second floor. The tower will also include new operating rooms and patient prep and recovery space on the third floor, 204 new patient rooms on floors five through nine, and women and infant services on the fifth floor, with more medical and surgical and ICU beds on floors six through eight. The ninth floor will have more medical and surgical beds in addition to 24 more patient rooms.

The placement of this final piece of the tower marks that the uppermost structural framing of the new tower is ready to be set and that the structure has reached its maximum height. While the new tower is currently in its metal “skeleton” form of what it will eventually become, it is scheduled to open for services in spring 2019.

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Roula Associates Architect served as the architect on the project, while Walsh Construction served as the general contractor. Both have offices in Chicago.

The RTU provides treatment for substance abuse, mental illness and general health screenings and evaluations for inmates at the jail. It contains 979 medical beds, separate male and female intake units, a medical and psychiatric screening facility, 24-hour crisis and intervention services, a correctional psychiatric care clinic and secured exterior recreation yards. The medical and psychiatric screening facility is a key part of the RTU. Doctors and psychologists from Cermak Hospital will provide services to the inmate patients.

The RTU is part of the Cook County Board’s modernization plan to create a more effective and humane criminal justice system. According to the Cook County Bureau of Economic Development blog, more than 85 percent of the jail population tested positive for drugs. The county jail is also one of the largest mental health care providers in the state because of the number of inmates who suffer from mental illness.

In addition to the RTU, the Reception Classification Diagnostic Center (RCDC) Intake Center was also a part of the expansion project. It replaces the services of the old intake center, which was housed in the basement of another division at the jail. The jail accommodates close to 10,000 inmates per day. That number fluctuates as the jail both processes and discharges around 300 to 400 detainees a day.

Sustainability features at the building include a mechanical system designed to achieve energy cost savings through advanced air handling units and the facility’s more than 200 thermostatic control zones, and the latest in building automation control technology. Plus, the building’s green roof was designed and installed to reduce the building’s heat island effect as well as its rainwater runoff.
 

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