La Porte Hospital Approves Rendering of Future Hospital

By Rachel Leber

LA PORTE, Ind. — The La Porte Hospital Board of Trustees approved a rendering of the new La Porte hospital on Jan. 24, 2018, marking the next major development of the facility that is expected to open in 2020. The rendering itself depicts a view that looks onto the main entrance of the new hospital, and shows the emergency department entrance to the side.

With hospital design being one of their specialties, Gresham, Smith and Partners headquartered out of Nashville, Tenn., were selected in November 2017 to serve as the lead architectural firm on the project, and are responsible for the recently approved rendering. The hospital also began working with local engineers from RQAW in La Porte for initial site preparation work, and Randall Miller & Associates, Inc., from Marion, Ind. — who are overseeing the site survey — around the same time.

The new La Porte Hospital will be a full-service acute-care community hospital that will include the inpatient services currently offered, including emergency services, inpatient and outpatient surgery, cardiovascular services in a heart center setting, critical care, orthopedic services, birthing and family care services, as well as others — in addition to all of the ancillary support services for these areas.

“The New La Porte Hospital is going to be an exceptional facility, so we wanted to be sure to select teams with specialized knowledge,” said Ashley Dickinson, chief executive officer of La Porte Hospital in a recent statement. “We’ve made the commitment to build the new La Porte Hospital downtown which means we will need to work creatively in the limited space available. The expertise from Gresham, Smith and Partners, RQAW, and Randall Miller & Associates, Inc., will support the development of an innovative design and help us realize our vision for the new hospital.”

Some architectural features of the new hospital will include a mix of traditional brick and stone, and large windows that will offer views of  La Porte’s natural surroundings, while also providing patients with an abundance of natural light. The windows will be made of high performance, low-e glass, which will minimize the amount of ultraviolet and infrared light without compromising the amount of ambient light in the building, and will contribute to the overall energy efficiency of the building.

The next step is for the site prep team and hospital officials to continue finalizing the footprint of the facility, which will be built on land the hospital owns next to the current hospital, as well as upcoming staging and construction of the site.