Las Vegas-based Valley Health System broke ground last month on the 142-bed Henderson Hospital, the first facility being built for Union Village. The village is a major development situated on a 170-acre site that will also include a retail center, medical offices, residential apartments, a senior care center and a cultural center.

The hospital, which sits on 38.5 acres, is being designed by Los Angeles-based HMC Architects and will be using a lean project delivery method in collaboration with New York-based Turner Construction Company.

The Henderson Hospital is the anchor facility for the $1.6 billion Union Village. The hospital will offer general surgery, emergency and specialty services. It will also offer all private rooms and an intensive care unit, as well as digital imaging and an advanced electronic clinical information system. A new feature at the hospital will be a Consolidated Treatment Unit, according to HMC Architects. The unit is an emergency department that is flexible to allow for expansion according to need and it’s where inpatients and outpatients can prepare for procedures.

“When the hospital opens, residents in the Henderson community will have access to quality care and advanced services that only an integrated health system can deliver,” said Karla Perez, regional vice president, Universal Health Services acute care division, in a statement. “It is a tremendous privilege and honor to support the community and bring this new hospital and advanced medical care to our families, friends and neighbors in Henderson, Boulder City, western Arizona and beyond, and at such an important time in our nation’s health care history.”

The new hospital joins five other Las Vegas hospitals in The Valley Health System, which are owned and operated by a subsidiary of Universal Health Services of King of Prussia, Pa.

In addition to the hospital, Union Village will make different levels of care available to seniors in the same complex, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, rather than being transported to several different facilities and will be able to recover in skilled nursing settings at a lower cost.

Union Village will be a four-part village consisting of Union Centre, which will house the hospital and health center; Union Plaza, which will house the retail center and residential units; Union Place, which will house the senior community; and Union Park, which will serve as the civic and cultural arts center.

The entire project, including the hospital, is expected to create more than 17,000 jobs, including 5,000 for construction jobs and 12,000 for health care and retail. Even down the line when construction is complete, retail units may be in a prime position for a tenant build out when business owners are ready to improve their premises and make use of tenant improvement services like those offered by Hurd Construction Management. Union Village Founder Craig Johnson told the Las Vegas Review-Journal the giant project is projected to generate $5 billion for local and state economies over its 80-year expected life.

The new hospital is expected to be complete in October 2016, and Union Village will be completed by 2022.

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The long-awaited $150 million greenfield hospital was designed by Los Angeles-headquartered HMC Architects and constructed through a joint venture between DPR Construction, headquartered in Redwood City, Calif., and New York-headquartered Turner Construction Company. Working closely with the construction team and Universal Health Services (UHS), HMC used Lean principles to complete the project ahead of schedule and under budget.

“The most unique element of the project is the Lean process in which the project was delivered,” said Steven Wilson, principal with HMC Architects. “Numerous tools and processes exist to drive collaborative behavior down through multiple organizations in order to assure that everyone is sharing a common vision — and when used together, the tools form a system.”

Lean principles allow the owner, architect and contractor to participate in the design and decision-making process from the onset of the project, according to Wilson. The project also used an Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) for further collaboration and to optimize the project’s success.

“It has been documented that there is considerable waste in the construction industry,” said George Vangelatos, principal with HMC. “When Lean measures are coupled with IPD and applied to health care construction, the process can yield greater customer value while eliminating waste and it begins with the right team thinking about the project and not their own needs.”

An off-site “big room” was used as a meeting room for the project team to conduct problem-solving discussions. This open communication and dialogue throughout the design and construction process created a more efficient project with less rework, according to Wilson. The team also used the Last Planner System in order for all members of the team to make accurate commitments and not overproduce, which is seen as wasteful, Wilson said.

“The Temecula Valley Hospital project started with UHS, HMC Architects and a joint venture between DPR Construction and Turner Construction. We then evaluated other team members using the Choosing by Advantage technique to determine who would best fit in to the project’s Lean approach. This allowed the team to openly discuss the best method for getting something done and decisions were made to benefit the project rather than individual firms,” Wilson said. “Once the team was assembled, the focus was on establishing trust, learning, collaboration and innovation to deliver the best project possible. Ideas flowed from every team member and all were empowered to make decisions.”

The team’s ability to meet their responsibilities was reevaluated on a weekly basis for improvement or breakdown. This process, Wilson said, allowed the team to take out six months from the already aggressive schedule. Additionally, a 16-month acceleration was achieved though early collaboration with the Office of Statewide Planning and Development.

“The project team embraced Lean principles to break down the silos of traditional project delivery and required deep collaboration and teamwork. They all accepted the challenge to propel collaborative behavior down through the multiple organizations,” Wilson said. “The cooperation between team members drove down the project costs and fostered innovation, while meeting UHS’s efficiency and schedule goals.”

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