CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Horton Automatics, a manufacturer of premium access solutions known for its expertise in serving the unique demands of healthcare applications, was chosen by a major hospital to provide a total of 125 commercial doors for its massive emergency department expansion project. The 40,000-square-foot expansion of the Lancaster General Hospital’s Emergency Department is one of the largest investments in the history of the hospital and is being developed to serve the increasingly high demand for emergency services in the Lancaster, Pa., region.

Lancaster General’s expansion project team, led by Perkins & Will Architects, chose to partner with Horton for all its pedestrian access solutions. Horton distributor, Susquehanna Door Services Inc. of New Oxford, Pa., played a pivotal role in the product specification, project coordination and installation process for all Horton door systems.

Reliable doors provided by Horton resist wear and can accommodate the steady growth of patient, staff and visitor traffic while streamlining movement and providing added security to all pedestrians. From ICU Telescoping XM (max-opening) Manual Slide Doors and automatic ProSlide® ICU Telescoping Isolation Door Systems to Heavy-Duty Swing Doors and convenient Bi-Fold Solutions, Horton is equipped to satisfy every need in the Lancaster General Hospital’s $182.5 million expansion plan.

When fully complete in 2024, the project will nearly double the current Emergency Department to 95 beds, with the capacity to serve 140,000 patients annually. Phase 1 of this impressive project has already doubled the number of trauma bays to four and added 5 behavioral treatment rooms and 12 pediatric treatment rooms.

The post PA Emergency Department Expansion Features Doors from Horton appeared first on HCO News.

LANCASTER, Pa.—Lancaster General Hospital’s new public entrance to the Emergency Department moved from Lime Street to Duke Street early this fall as Phase 1 of the Trauma and Emergency Department Expansion was complete.

Parking is now located at 555 N Duke St. with the walk-in entrance situated at 155 E James St, in Lancaster.

The new entrance on Duke Street is open for vehicle traffic and drop-offs for patients accessing the Emergency Department. Patients seeking emergency care will enter via a designated parking lot entrance along Duke Street, leading to a patient drop-off area and parking beneath the hospital.

The hospital’s James Street lobby will become the temporary entrance for walk-in access, non-emergent patient admissions, and the general public.

Features in this first phase of the Emergency Department Expansion include:

• Larger lobby
• New patient triage areas
• New patient parking lot entrance along Duke Street
• Enhanced patient and visitor security

When complete in 2024, the expansion will increase the Emergency Department to 95 beds with the capacity to serve 140,000 patients annually. The Department will also double the number of behavioral-health treatment rooms to 10; double the number of Level 1 trauma bays to four; and add 13 new pediatric-treatment rooms.

The department’s existing clinical services will remain in their current location within the hospital. In addition, ambulances will continue to access the ED via entrances along Frederick Street and Duke Street.

The architecture firm for the project is Perkins & Will and construction is being done by Benchmark Construction.

The post Lancaster Hospital Continues Emergency Department Expansion appeared first on HCO News.

PHILADELPHIA—With the coronavirus pandemic having shut down much of the U.S. economy the past few months, and new cases of COVID-19 continuing to be reported, one healthcare construction project in the City of Brotherly Love has been ramped up to be able to treat patients as quickly as possible.

The Penn Medicine hospital tower, located in Philadelphia’s University City section, had already been under construction since May 2017. According to Engineering News Record, the project, which is called “The Pavilion,” was due to be completed in 2021, but in the wake of Philadelphia’s coronavirus outbreak, officials as well as workers at general contractor IMC Construction have revved up the pace of the work. According to ENR, crews have been working around the clock since mid-March to get the facility opened by early may, which would be a full 15 months ahead of the original completion date.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf ordered all nonessential businesses throughout the Keystone State to close on March 19. This included construction companies, although work on the Pavilion has since continued.

Contractor IMC Construction, located in Malvern, Pennsylvania, is working on the healthcare facility in conjunction with architect Perkins + Will, which has its home base in Chicago. The project will include office space as well as areas devoted specifically to childcare. According to IMC data, Phase 1 entails 10 floors and 250,000 square feet of space, with Phase 2 providing an additional 290,000 square feet.

In a statement provided to HCO News, Robert Cottone, president and CEO at IMC Construction, said that the 540,000-square-foot Pavilion project is especially needed at a time when Philadelphia, and the rest of the country, faces such an unprecedented pandemic as the coronavirus outbreak.

“We take great responsibility and pride in expediting the completion of a healthcare facility that will contribute to the fight against Covid-19,” Cottone said. “However, this project will not be successful unless everyone involved follows established IMC work protocols to remain safe and healthy.”

According to ENR, when completed, the Pavilion will offer 120 hospital beds at a site that is directly adjacent to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Said Cottone: “Our partnership with University of Pennsylvania Health Systems has allowed us to create a stringent monitoring and exposure prevention plan that will help us achieve our goals.”

Over 12,000 cases of covid-19 have been diagnosed in Philadelphia, according to the city, resulting in nearly 500 deaths. Pennsylvania’s Department of Health reports that, statewide, there have been over 42,000 diagnoses resulting in 1,600 deaths.

The post COVID-19 Hospital Goes on Construction Fast-Track appeared first on HCO News.

PALO ALTO, Calif. – The main building at the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital in Stanford is now open. The impressive hospital has been a work in progress for over ten years, making its completion a cause for true celebration for all of those involved in the extensive project, as well as those who will benefit from its services.

The building was designed by Perkins+Will out of its New York office, in conjunction with Hammel, Green and Abrahamson Architects, Inc. (HGA), headquartered out of Minneapolis, Minn. DPR Construction served as the general contractor on the project, headquartered out of Redwood City, Calif.

The main building of the new hospital was officially opened on Dec. 9, 2017, after the hospital was given its licence by the California Department of Public Health on Dec. 4, just five days before. An official ribbon-cutting ceremony took place on November 30 which included approximately 300 leaders from the hospital and Stanford University, as well as elected officials, community partners and members of the donor community.

“Hundreds of staff prepared for months and months for this day, when this new building became part of our working hospital,” said Christopher G. Dawes, president and chief executive officer at Lucile Packard Hospital and Stanford Children’s Health in a recent statement.

The new 521,000-square-foot building increases the original pediatric and obstetric hospital size by more than double. Expansion of the new building meant the addition of 149 patient beds, bringing the total bed count to 361 on the Palo Alto campus.

While the main building of the new hospital is open for business, more construction remains to be accomplished on the West building over the next few years. Construction will include a new surgery center with six new operating suites, as well as intraoperative MRI technology and angiography equipment in the neuro-hybrid surgery suite that will be constructed.

Amongst many other exciting features, the new main building at Lucile Packard is the anticipation of LEED Gold certification, which, when achieved, will make the new hospital one of the most sustainable children’s hospitals in the country, according to Robin Guenther, principal at Perkins + Will in a recent statement.  

The new building features sustainable features such as water-efficient landscaping and water collection systems. These features are projected to save 800,000 gallons of water annually. In addition, ventilation and shading systems have been installed that will mean reducing thermal energy usage by 60 percent, as compared to other similar hospitals in the area.

The post Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Now Open appeared first on HCO News.

WASHINGTON – The Children’s National Health System in Washington held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on April 28 for the new Bunny Mellon Healing Garden. The new garden is dedicated to the First Ladies of the United States, and was made possible by multiple generous gifts. The benefactors of the garden include Andy and Heather Florance, the employees of CoStar Group – a D.C.-based company founded by Andy Florance – and a multi-million-dollar gift from the estate of the late D.C. philanthropist and horticulturalist Rachel “Bunny” Lambert Mellon.

The inspiration for the garden originally came from a Children’s National patient. The story is that the young patient had a last wish to go outside, and the patient’s care team was able to make the child’s wish come true. This touching moment led Children’s National staff to make a commitment to make it easier for all patients at Children’s National to have better access to the outdoors. When Andy and Heather Florance heard about the hospital’s goal, they moved quickly into action raising funds privately and through the staff of CoStar. Building upon the Florances’ commitment, the Gerard B. Lambert Foundation, named for Mellon’s late father, donated proceeds from Mrs. Mellon’s estate to fund the Healing Garden.

“Standing in this Healing Garden is one of the most inspiring and humbling experiences of my life,” said Andy Florance, in a statement. “The fact that the CoStar family came together to help children experience the restorative power of the fresh air and trees is simply extraordinary. We are proud to partner with Children’s National and to have a role in bringing an oasis of hope from a mere vision to this stunning reality,” he said. The health benefits of spending time outdoors are well documented, so it makes a lot of sense that hospitals are starting to build their own gardens for patients to enjoy. If they can, people should always try and make sure they live in homes that have outside space, and get furniture like teak adirondack chairs so that they can sit and enjoy the peace, tranquillity and healing power it provides.

Perkins + Will in Washington, D.C., served as the architectural firm who designed the garden, with James G Davis Construction in Bethesda, Md., as the general contractor. The garden itself consists of a 7,200-square-foot gravel rooftop with significant structural modifications in the construction and transformation of the rooftop into the garden. These structural modifications included 3,000 hours of steel welding and installation to create the rooftop space above the existing lab where the garden was built.

“For years, many of us here at Children’s National have dreamed about having a beautiful outdoor space for our patients and families to enjoy the physical and emotional benefits of being outside,” said Kurt Newman, M.D., president and chief executive officer of Children’s National, in a statement. “Our dream has finally come true, and our entire team is grateful to the many supporters who helped make this a reality,” said Newman.

Perkins + Will balanced the needs of the hospital with modern design for this healing garden, factoring in needs for wheelchair access and children with crutches or IV poles. Naturally, this includes pathways and stone pavements from somewhere like Westminster Stone, so that there can be a delicate balance between function and aesthetic. The design of the healing garden also includes power outlets for patients whose care requires machines so that all patients at varying levels of health care needs can enjoy the healing garden. With health care considerations in mind, the construction team minimized disruption of critical care through careful scheduling.

“The average stay for a child hospitalized at Children’s National is six days,” said Kathy Gorman, executive vice president for patient care services and chief operating officer at Children’s National, in a statement. “Many children with serious illnesses need to stay several weeks or even months, and oftentimes, they are unable to leave the confines of the hospital. This Healing Garden makes it much easier for sick children to spend time outdoors in a safe environment. Our young patients and their families now have access to sunshine, blue sky and fresh air.”

The post Children’s National Health Reveals New Bunny Mellon Healing Garden appeared first on HCO News.