Events of the day included a celebration for the hospital’s 120 years of history and care. Highlights of the ceremony included speeches by hospital leaders, elected officials and a parent highly involved in the new building’s design. Attendees were given refreshments and opportunities for photos. The Akron Children’s Doggie Brigade made an appearance as well, as did Air Bear, Ohio’s first medical transport helicopter dedicated to pediatrics.

The critical care tower, which will be located near Locust and Exchange streets, is part of the Building on the Promise project. This $200 million endeavor will focus on transforming the hospital’s campus. The tower will house several critical care departments, including a neonatal intensive care unit, an emergency department, an ambulatory surgery center and several rooms for other hospital programs.

The goal of the tower construction project is to create more efficient care processes and make better use of space in order to increase the quality of patient outcomes. The flexibility of the space will foster the hospital’s future growth as it continues its tradition of excellent family care.

Grace Wakulchik, the hospital’s COO, stated that the flexibility built into the tower’s design will prepare the hospital for potential changes in the future. The neonatal intensive care units are being designed so they can be converted to pediatric intensive care units or general patient rooms if necessary.

Akron Children’s Hospital has been dedicated to community involvement from the beginning of the project as well. Hospital officials brought parents in to discuss various elements of design as the tower plan was being developed. Numerous obstacles were circumvented before construction on the project even began as parents raised questions with project managers.

The high level of cooperation between the community and hospital employees was evident in the design workshops held in a local warehouse. The donated warehouse space was used as a makeshift foundation upon which a life-size cardboard model of the tower was constructed. Hospital employees and families were able to walk through the model and test the layout of the space before design plans were executed.

Boldt Construction developed this method of testing out proposed design plans. This process — Integrated Lean Project Delivery (ILPD) — not only narrowed the margin of error and allowed any necessary changes to be made prior to the beginning of construction, but also provided an opportunity for community members to bond with employees at the hospital.

KLMK Group, the onsite project manager, is eager to get involved with the project as well. Bill McMahon, president and COO, said in a recent press release, “We are extremely excited about the groundbreaking of the new critical care tower. This facility will enhance the quality of care that Akron Children’s provides and we are honored to be a part of the process.”

The new tower will be a 368,735-square-foot structure standing seven stories tall, and is expected to open in 2015.
 

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In Springfield, Mo., CoxHealth has two major projects at its Cox Medical Center Springfield and Cox Medical Center Branson campuses. Cox Medical Center Springfield will be getting a new nine-story $130 million patient tower. KLMK will provide project-launch services such as organizing the planning, design and construction team; developing and maintaining the master program schedule and budget; and assisting CoxHealth management in daily construction administration work.

The ground breaking of the 310,000-square-foot tower was held on May 15, and construction is expected to take 18 to 24 months. The new tower will connect to Cox South’s existing tower and will include a women’s and children’s hospital, a neuroscience hospital and additional room for future expansion.

At the CoxHealth Medical Center Branson, KLMK will provide project launch and scenario modeling to help implement a full master plan at the campus. CoxHealth plans on spending $25 million on the Branson facility.

Stuart, Fla.-headquartered Martin Health System (MHS) is in the process of constructing a new 190,000-square-foot, 80-bed hospital, called Tradition Medical Center, in Port St. Lucie, Fla. MHS contracted KLMK to provide expertise on facility activation as they prepare for the activation and opening of the new hospital. KLMK is already providing project advisory solutions to MHS. The project is scheduled for completion in December 2013.

Lastly, Rock Mount, N.C.-based Nash Health Care Systems is expanding its main campus by adding a new women’s center. KLMK is assisting by identifying alternative project delivery methods and project teams, as well as providing project launch services.

In addition to these three contracts, KLMK was awarded the contract for Parkland Hospital in Dallas earlier this year. Construction on the hospital began in 2010 and is scheduled for completion in 2015.
 

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Construction on the new hospital began in 2010 and is scheduled for completion and activation in 2015. Dallas-based BARA is serving as the construction manager. In a joint effort, Omaha, Neb.-headquartered HDR Inc. and Dallas-headquartered Corgan Associates are working as the master architect.

Known as the largest hospital construction project in the nation, the 2.5 million-square-foot facility costs $1.27 billion. It includes an 862-bed adult inpatient hospital, a 380,000-square-foot outpatient center, 6,000-vehicle parking lot and central utility plant and logistics building.

The new facility will provide a patient-centered environment, with 38 percent more bed space than the current facility. It is being designed to promote a more healing environment by incorporating natural light and windows and will include the latest technologies.

The design will also be adaptable so that the campus can evolve with the health care industry over the next 50 years.

KLMK will assist the hospital in the development and implementation of the Move Activation plan, which includes patient relocation, staff move coordination, management of content relocation activities and budget and schedule development. The company will also assist with the tracking of the training plan, IT planning, occupancy strategy development and provide information to facilitate timely decision making.

The construction team is on schedule and on budget, despite significant leadership changes. In December, the central utility plant began utility service to the new hospital campus. Earlier this month, the construction team completed the topping out of the Women’s and Infant’s Specialty Health (WISH) clinic, which will occupy about 100,000 square feet when completed.

Over the course of the project, an estimated 3,000 jobs will be created.
 

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The architect is Sizeler Thompson Brown Architects. KLMK Group Inc. is providing program management services.

All phases of the $25 million project are scheduled to be completed in 2013.

The first floor of the expansion will hold the 28,600-square-foot emergency room with a capacity of 31 patients, imaging and new mechanical space. The second floor will hold the 28,600-square-foot cardiology expansion with 38 beds.

The new facility will allow for shorter wait times, faster assessments, quicker discharges and more inpatient private beds. In addition, it will allow the hospital to prepare for future growth while adding new technologies, equipment and physicians.

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