The Next Generation Healthcare Facilities Summit will take place Feb. 23 – 25. This is the second year for the event.

The built environment of a health care facility directly impacts the safety, operation, clinical outcomes, and financial success of health care organizations now and well into the future, according to the event’s website. By documenting deficiencies in logistical design and addressing potential improvements in the operation or condition of the facility’s mechanical equipment, lighting and related controls, facilities can work towards operating more effectively.

Additionally, regulatory requirements are pushing hospital owners to demand designs that promote well-being and convenience through strategic site design, according to event planners. Experts will gather to assess the impact of future trends in medical technology and information on clinical practices and health care facility design. Event speakers will also evaluate the regulatory environment (addressing the Affordable Care Act, Americans with Disabilities Act and HIPPA) to comply with state, federal and local requirements, avoiding halts in construction and cost overruns.

Attendees will also be able to learn how to optimize cost effectiveness to make the most out of viable resources, enhancing functional space and utilizing a practical logistics system. Other topics of interest at the event include Building Information Modeling (BIM), Energy Audits (EAs), and Life-Cycle Assessments (LCAs) to increase energy efficiency, assess LEED certification and lower utility costs.

Additionally, ideas will be shared on how regenerative design and aspects of a facility’s interior can promote patient wellness. More specifically how it can attract and retain the best doctors and HMOs.

Experts will also assess the importance and value of using Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) to achieve efficiency during construction.

Event planners are offering a discount code before the start of the summit. Use the code NGHF_HCO to receive 20 percent off standard pricing.

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The design-build team of Petra Integrated Construction Strategies (Petra ICS), based in La Palma, Calif.; Taylor Design, based in Fitch Irvine, Calif.; and St. Louis-based McCarthy, attributes the fast and efficient process to collaborative delivery and progressive construction technology.

Located on the northern side of the St. Jude Medical Center campus, the St. Jude Medical Center Northwest Tower replaces an existing tower. The four-story, 200,000-square-foot acute care building offers 120 beds and 14 operating rooms that feature minimally invasive and robotic surgeries.

“Two primary uses with different requirements are components of the Northwest Tower addition. These include technologically cutting-edge surgical suites as well as spaces for patient care, healing and recovery,” said Neal Rinella, Taylor Design’s principal-in-charge, in a statement.

The project also included a 14,000-square-foot central utility plant and a new bridge to connect the tower’s fourth floor to the hospital.

Seven months of major construction work took place before building the new tower. Crews had to perform utility work and tear down an existing medical records building and parking garage. Construction efforts also included new surface parking and street improvements. In collaboration with International Parking Design of Irvine, Calif., McCarthy added 215 parking spaces to an existing 455-car parking structure that was built in 2004.

“The Northwest Tower displays design function, as well as incorporates evidence-based strategies for patient services to reduce stress, length of stay and enhance communication between caregivers and patients. These strategies not only provide an optimal care environment for healing, but also support St. Jude Medical Center’s commitment to patient dignity, the human spirit and creating healthy communities,” Rinella said in a statement.

To meet the challenging demands of the project, the construction and design team used virtual construction and design technology. For example, building information modeling (BIM) 3D, 4D and 5D were used to tie the model to constructability, cost and schedule. This form of delivery approach and technology helped to decrease the total project cost by 10 percent and helped complete the project under the original budget. The project team was also able to complete construction in five months.

Other technological features help with the patient experience, including computers for medical use in every patient room and advanced information systems allowing immediate clinical collaboration.

There is also a neurosurgery suite with an intra-operative MRI integrated with systems from BrainLab, a German medical technology company. Additionally, the tower features a cardiovascular hybrid room with a robotic C-arm, a cardiovascular suite, dedicated orthopedic rooms and integrated general surgery suites.

“Our team has worked together on other projects, but this has been the most collaborative design and construction effort that Petra ICS/St. Joseph Health System has achieved over the duration of our existence,” said Jim Bostic, vice president of operations for Petra ICS, in a statement. “It is a model project for best practices in the use of virtual design and construction and the implementation of the design to construction process.”

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FKP Architects of Houston served as the design architect and architect of record on the 425,000-square-foot tower. Wood Bughard & Swain Architecs of Irvine, Calif., was the construction administration and associate architect, and McCarthy Building Companies of Newport Beach, Calif., served as the general contractor.

The seven-story tower holds the region’s only dedicated pediatric operating rooms, emergency department, imaging department and laboratory. The building also features updated amenities including an in-house multimedia center, pre-teen and teen rooms, patient outdoor play area, café and outdoor garden, family resource center, and meditation and prayer center.

From the onset of the project, architects aimed to create an iconic building that would reflect the vision of providing the best facility and patient outcomes for the children of California, according to Gary Owens, AIA, LEED AP, senior principal with FKP.
“A prime deliverable was for the building exterior to express the strength of care available at the hospital and to serve as a beacon for arriving families, patients and the community. Furthermore, the building’s layered forms, interlaced into the interior design of the building, mirrored the layering of the surrounding communities and the various geographic regions in Southern California,” he said.
Another goal of the design was to create an environment that would be a source of inspiration to visiting families and to also create a place of discovery for child patients, Owens added.

“The architecture of the building, both exterior and interior, projects a playful and delightful feeling,” Owens said. “From the initial arrival and throughout the child’s visit, the composition of forms, shapes, color, light and encountered experiences achieves the original goal: for the building to support the patient, the families, the staff and the vision of providing quality pediatric care.”

Located in an urban setting, the tower was constructed on a tight 2.4-acre site that was formerly a two-level parking structure adjacent to the existing hospital. The site required critical planning in order to minimize disruption and keep the project on schedule.

“Utilizing the industry’s most advanced software and field hardware along with design-assist delivery greatly aided in an early completion by allowing all key team members to seamlessly collaborate from the beginning of the design phase through to the grand opening,” said Max Burchman, project director with McCarthy.

A major challenge in the project was coordinating deliveries of large structural members, mechanical equipment and miscellaneous bulk deliveries, according to Burchman. The team attained a lane closure permit in order to safely unload trucks without halting traffic. Just-in-time delivery was also used for construction materials and the export of construction debris and dirt.

McCarthy implemented an Electronic Plan Room to streamline planning, free up office space and enable the team to view documents simultaneously. Additionally, the contractor created an Electronic Facilities Manual for Project Closeout to provide organized electronic copies of construction documents, as-builts, O&Ms, training videos and warranties, Burchman said.

In order to minimize construction issues and develop resolutions, BIM technology was used in the preconstruction phase and construction phases to create high building confidence and extreme accuracy.

“BIM clash detection and resolution identified thousands of clashes of varying magnitudes over the course of the project. With each adjustment made to the different trades, the 3-D model was updated automatically, thereby giving the team the latest coordinated BIM content,” Burchman said.

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