Owensboro Replacement Project Under Way
OWENSBORO, Ky. — Construction has begun on a $420 million, 780,000-square-foot replacement hospital for Owensboro Medical Health Center.
When the project is completed, OMHC will house 447 beds and service patients from 11 Kentucky counties. The project is being built in three phases and is schedule for completion in 2013.
Designed by HGA Architects and Engineers of Milwaukee and built by Turner Construction Co., the team is utilizing an integrated project delivery to coordinate scheduling and the budget.
Situated on a 145-acre campus, the medical center will include a nine-story inpatient bed tower, a three-story diagnostic and treatment building, a 30-bed transitional care unit, an emergency department organized around pods of care, and a women’s center with dedicated drop-off and entry points. OMHC will also feature a heart center, a neuro-diagnostics area, and outpatient diagnostics facility.
Linking the diagnostic and treatment building and the curving bed tower is a nine-story spine that houses inpatient support and administrative spaces. These structures are organized around a central courtyard that provides views and natural lighting.
“HGA introduced lean design principles into the planning and development process to enable Owensboro to achieve a lean business model,” says Kurt Spiering, vice president and principal with HGA in Milwaukee. “The new hospital will be one of the leading medical centers in Kentucky offering state-of-the-art technology and advanced delivery processes to maximize the patient experience.”
The bed tower will have twin 24-bed units on each medical floor, designed with an emphasis on staff efficiency and patient and staff safety. Design features include same-handed rooms, dedicated family spaces in each patient room, and two-leaf room entry and patient toilet doors.
OMHC will have a number of technological innovations, including registration kiosks, wireless staff communication tools, electronic medical records, barcode medication administration, and a patient education network.
Slated to achieve LEED Silver rating, the medical center will utilize locally harvested materials to create warm, healing interior and exterior environments. A series of courtyards will provide interior daylight and green roofs are planned for the women’s courtyard, the bed tower, and a connector hallway. Outdoors, bioswales, native grasses and plants, and a restored adjacent flood plain will mitigate storm water runoff and reduce irrigation needs.