FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Skanska USA and ACAI Associates, Inc. of Fort Lauderdale officially completed the $27.5 million renovation of Salah Foundation Children’s Hospital at Broward Health Medical Center.

The multi-phase project renovated both inpatient and outpatient areas in various pediatric units across the hospital. 30 new, state-of-the-art private rooms were added in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), granting the NICU a total bed capacity of 63.

According to Skanska, the new private rooms were designed following NICU guidelines and keeping current and future hospital needs in mind, while creating more space for patients, their families and hospital staff.

A total of 12 beds were added to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, 20 to the Pediatric Step-down Units, and 12 more beds were installed in the Oncology and Hematology departments.

“For the Salah Foundation Children’s Hospital at Broward Health Medical Center project, our overall goal was to provide a state-of-the-art, fully private children’s hospital expansion, that would include newly renovated units such as the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), hematology and oncology areas, and more,” said Nelmarie Bowe, senior project manager, Skanska USA Building.

Bowe continued stating that the fully private children’s hospital was created so physicians could provide the best care to the smallest patients. The entire process, from design and pre-construction, was completed always with the patient in mind.

One of the main design elements incorporated in the project was the use of the continuous nautical theme throughout the hospital, allowing everyone from patients and staff, to family members and visitors to be able to identify where you were, and specifically what parts encompassed the children’s hospital.

“The idea was to be keep the design family oriented so that physicians and staff could provide family centered care that would help with the healing process,” said Bowe.

The NICU renovations included pre-fabricated headwalls that incorporated an abundance of medical gases, allowing the hospital to increase capacity if needed for emergency situations.

Also specific to the NICU was the addition of play areas designed for patients’ siblings, for families who may have more than one child already.

In the PICU and hematology areas, where patients typically spend longer periods of time, there are also playrooms for patients so they can enjoy some time out of their rooms.

The hospital staff was also kept in mind as the newly renovated staff lounges allow the team to step away and refresh to be able to provide the best level of care.

The hospital installed updated biomedical systems that allow the physicians and nurses to track the status of all patients throughout entire unit. Specifically in the NICU, physicians and staff can now monitor labor and birth (L&B) deliveries at all times so they can monitor an influx of patients by tracking at-risk pregnancies. This then allows them to better plan for new patients and keep a better schedule.

During construction, the hospital remained fully operational while also using Skanska’s proprietary InSite Monitor app that tracks noise, vibration, dust, and differential pressure in spaces where we were performing construction work, allowing the team to monitor health and safety conditions throughout the whole project so the work would not affect patient care.

The renovation began in 2015 and was completed in August 2018.

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With the help of Dallas-based HKS Inc. as the lead architectural firm, as well as Self-Tucker Architects and Archimania, both of Memphis, the construction of the eight-story tower began in November 2016, and is currently being erected on top of the standing emergency department that Turner construction built in 2014. The notable design features reflect the goal of the medical facility earning its LEED Gold certification as well as attracting top-ranking medical professionals from all over the globe.

According to Kyle Reeves, Turner project executive for the tower, the team selected a unitized curtain wall glass system that will be pre-assembled off site and erected quicker than a stick built system in order to meet the insistent schedule. The curtain wall includes a dynamic glass system, which changes shade in response to sunlight to help with energy efficiency. The construction also includes two green roof areas, which create a calmer healing environment to improve patient outcomes.

“The use of glass, cast stone and metal panels provides a new identity for the campus entrance while also providing a destination that will attract the world’s top medical professionals,” said Reeves. “The use of dynamic glass throughout the entire project adds a level a comfort for patients and family. A new concourse on level three will be the main pedestrian spine that connects the existing hospital to the new expansion. The main public elevator lobby will have glass walls on two sides with enhanced lighting. Its glass walls rise above the roof level, forming a symbolic beacon that reinforces the faith-based focus of Methodist University Hospital.”

The new tower is expected to elevate patient care for Memphis and the Mid-South. The tower will allow for the consolidation of the hospital’s transplant services into a two-floor inpatient/outpatient comprehensive transplant institute. It will also connect the oncology and outpatient care to create a new cancer center. The expansion allows for a 36 percent increase in ICU capacity and a 20 percent increase in the hospital’s operating room capacity.

“The new facility will be one of the most advanced patient- and family-centered state-of-the-art tertiary care facilities in the Mid-South region,” said Reeves. “This represents a major investment to healthcare in the Midtown Memphis community and innovative spaces that will elevate the care provided to the Mid-South region for generations to come. This new facility will become one of the most advanced patient- and family-centered, state-of-the-art tertiary care facilities in the Mid-South region. This master plan campus improvement will also push MUH further towards its goal of being one of the top academic hospitals in the country.”

The construction of this tower also implements an “integrated project delivery” system (IPD).

“Renovating a space while it remains fully operational can pose a number of challenges. The most frequently cited challenge is that construction often takes longer than it would if the space did not need to remain fully functioning during construction. However, thanks to new collaborative delivery methods like Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), we’re able to mitigate this problem,” said  Reeves.

According to Reeves, IPD focuses on delivering value, eliminating waste and continuously improving. It encourages collaboration, shared risk and accountability between the owner, builder and architect. The IPD team, bound under one contract, often includes the owner, builder and architect, but can also include engineers, large subcontractors and suppliers.

The team establishes a target budget early in the project and outlines clear goals to ensure the project aligns well with the owner’s objectives. With all major parties involved from day one, the system fosters effective communication and decision-making. The architect, builder and sometimes engineer are contractually obligated to work together for the benefit of the project. This level of buy-in means the entire team is focused on adding value to help build a better quality, lower risk and faster project.

The IPD team spends a significant amount of time planning on the front end, so the design and building phases essentially morph into one continuous phase. And because construction can begin before design is completed, we are able to radically improve schedule performance, eliminate costly change orders and therefore reduce the chance of any schedule slips or delays. The collaborative nature of IPD allows us to identify and fix any potential problem areas before they affect the flow of work.

Because of IDP, the market will no longer tolerate mediocrity when it comes to project performance — including cost and schedule overruns, inefficient staffing models and workflow patterns, and facilities that are difficult and expensive to maintain and operate. The Integrated Project Delivery approach ensures that the team maximizes efficiency through all phases, from schematic design through to completion. Ultimately, it guarantees that the builder and designer are focused on adding value, building the project with higher quality, lower risk and at a faster speed.

The facility also includes new technology and electronic systems with linear accelerators, the latest models of MRIs and other state-of-the-art imaging and radiology equipment. This also includes modernized pharmacy, laboratories, dialysis and interventional radiology areas.

According to a statement, Michael Ugwueke, president and CEO of Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare expressed, “We are committed to the Midtown Medical District, and we are energized by our quest to put patients first in everything we do — from patient access, to patient experience to patient care, MLH is committed to providing high quality care to every patient who enters our doors.”

Project completion is expected for spring of 2019.

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RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Pacific Medical Buildings (PMB) in San Diego and the Jacobs Development Company in Riverside are three months into the construction of the new Riverside Medical Center. Once complete, the building will be occupied by RadNet, the leading national provider of freestanding, fixed-site diagnostic imaging services in the U.S., currently headquartered in Los Angeles. Construction is slated to be complete by the end of 2017.

The two-story, 27,000-square-foot medical office building has a budget of $12.5 million. The architect on the project is Ware Malcomb, Inc., based in Irvine, Calif. with Oltmans Construction Co. Inc., based in Whittier, Calif., serving as the general contractor. Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P. (HFF) in Dallas announced in April shortly before the project scope began that it will be offering an $8.5 million construction-to-permanent financing for the soon-to-be-built medical office building in Riverside. HFF worked on behalf of PMB to secure the 12-year, fixed-rate loan.

The new building, located in the Prospect Place Historic District is in close proximity to downtown Riverside. The project site itself is situated between a Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) building and two historic Victorian homes dating back to 1891. Fourteen Victorian homes were relocated prior to the purchase of the land, which was sold to PMB and Jacobs Development by the City of Riverside. The new facility is being constructed as an effort to meet the underserved surrounding Riverside community by providing efficient and accessible health care services, and will operate as a cancer center with a linear accelerator vault, imaging center and clinical programs.

“The building will provide much needed health care services to the area,” said Ben Rosenfeld, vice president of development at PMB in a recent statement. “RadNet is a leader in value-based health care delivery, and we are proud to be their healthcare real estate development partner helping them deliver low-cost, high-quality health care services to the greater Riverside community.”
The core lobby will have a sleek modern design with linear lights and a cool color material palette, according to Jake Rohe, partner and senior vice president of development at PMB. “The building is a tilt-up construction but is primarily designed with the goal for it not to look that way,” said Rohe. “We have done this by using custom reveals, insets, a painted tilt wall and curtain wall assembly. An intricately designed exterior monument wall, visible at the entrance to the site, adds to this.”

The building design also includes a cantilever canopy and all the essential services of a class-A medical office building, according to Rohe. Additionally, the site and landscape will include surface parking with a drought tolerant landscape package, designed by Community Works Design Group in Riverside.

“This project provided a great opportunity for us to work with RadNet, the City of Riverside and other outstanding community groups and organizations to create a facility that will meet the needs of the surrounding community,” said Pietro Martinez, project manager of architecture and construction at PMB. “We are very excited to create a top-notch facility that will meet the medical needs of the surrounding community.”

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SUPERIOR, Colo. — A groundbreaking ceremony was held on April 4 for the new Superior Medical Center in Superior. While the new development is not expected to be complete until January 2018, the new medical center is already 50 percent leased to multiple tenants. The new medical center will provide imaging services (MRI, CT and X-ray), urgent care, primary care and orthopedics once complete.

The four-story, 60,000-square-foot building has a budget of $18.5 million, and includes a pedestrian bridge on the second floor that will lead to a four-level parking structure with 229 parking spaces. Intergroup Architects in Littleton, Colo., is the architect on the project, with DSP Builders Inc. out of Denver serving as the general contractor. Pacific Medical Building (PMB) in San Diego, Calif., and the Sawtooth Development Group LLC in Ketchum, Idaho, are both working as the project developers for the new facility.

As the new medical center is located adjacent to “The Sports Stable” — a large indoor sports facility — which was strategically placed since a major goal of the new medical center is to support the medical needs of the many athletes who use it, in addition to the growing community in the downtown Superior master-planned development.

“The reason for this project really was Dr. Hsin, (orthopedic physician at the Sports Stable) he was the visionary behind this,” explained Matt Scoggins, project manager of Sawtooth Development Group in a recent statement. “Given the Sports Stable being [in close proximity to the new building] and the anticipated 1.5 million people coming in and out of there every year playing everything from pickleball to lacrosse to hockey, he thought it would be a synergistic opportunity to bring in that kind of medical backstop for support.”

The building includes energy-efficient LED lighting and PMB-selected locally-sourced finishes made in the U.S. and with recyclable content, according to Bill Smith, senior principal at Intergroup. “The 229-car, off-street parking facility will help reduce traffic and parking concerns for downtown Superior,” said Smith. “The facility will also provide a better accessible experience for patients, visitors, doctors and staff, with the pedestrian bridge. Bicycle racks provided in the parking facility will also encourage a reduction in vehicle traffic to and from downtown.”

The medical office building elevations reflect a variety of building materials, colors, heights and façade articulation/relief, according to Smith. Additionally, varying building materials and colors serve to distinguish building corners, base walls and floor levels, according to Smith. “Elevations feature brown stucco columns that define each building corner, and red brick which matches the brick used on The Sports Stable building to the south,” said Smith.

The defining architectural elements of the parking garage will be the structure’s four corners, which are distinguished by brick, split-face CMU block and contrasting stucco finishes, according to Smith. The north side of the parking structure also features a tower element on each corner that corresponds with each stairway location.

“We’re excited about the opportunity to be part of the downtown Superior project as it represents the continued evolution of the principles of consumerism in health care delivery,” said Jake Rohe, partner and senior vice president at PMB in a recent statement. “The Superior Medical Center will provide a variety of ambulatory uses in a community–focused, mixed-use master plan.”

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