WEST COLUMBIA, S.C.—Lighting contractor Hubbell Lighting has stepped in with a unique lighting design for the 438-bed Lexington Medical Center expansion project—the largest hospital expansion project in the history of the Palmetto State. Hubbell’s work has enabled the hospital to conform to code when it came to lighting “performance metrics” included in the Recommended Practice (RP-29) Lighting for Hospitals and Healthcare Facilities.

Hubbell announced that in addition to tackling the requisite lighting levels for the interior of the healthcare facility, the contractor needed to evaluate lighting standards for individual components as they affected the quality of light: kelvin temperature, color rendering index (CRI) and correlated color temperature.

Representatives from Hubbell report that the lighting design was focused on “enhancing” the experience for patients, visitors and employees of the hospital located in the town adjacent to South Carolina’s capital city of Columbia.

As part of its lighting design, patient rooms, hallways and nurses stations were outfitted with MOD 4L LED Recessed Slot devices from Litecontrol, which can be dimmed as needed. DLC Premium Qualified LCAT units from subcontractor Columbia Lighting were installed in other areas of the facility, mostly notable in the hallways for all patient floors. Hubbell engineers also installed the company’s own patented NX Distributed Intelligence Specialty Switch Stations (NXSW-ORLO) for nurses and other medical staff to manually control the lighting levels in areas where they work. These smart switches can independently control various groups of different lights in several hallways or nurses stations. Furthermore, this system can be programmed so as to maintain enough illumination to adhere to emergency lighting requirements.

Also, in the hospital’s neonatal and maternity ward, Hubbell installed the MOD 3L LED Surface Direct and MOD 4L LED Wall Indirect/Direct models, whose lighting can be precisely calibrated to be at optimal level for expectant families. (The Lexington Medical Center welcomes over 3,000 babies per year and is recognized as one of the best maternity wards in all of South Carolina.) These two lighting options are utilized in other areas of the hospital as well.

The new tower for the Lexington Medical Center offers 11 classrooms and conference rooms, in which MOD 4L LED Recessed Slot lights have been installed.

The West Columbia campus needed expansion due to growth in the entire capital region of South Carolina. The expansion took three years and entailed 545,000 square feet of renovation work. In addition to the new patient tower, parking spaces for 950 vehicles were added, as was a 63,000-square-foot utility building.

General contractor Brasfield & Gorrie worked in tandem with architect Perkins and Will on the overall expansion of Lexington Medical Center. The medical facility is the largest part of a network of three community medical centers, two primary care centers, the largest skilled nursing facility in the Carolinas, as well as an Alzheimer’s care center. Over 6,500 health care professionals work at Lexington Medical Center, which also boasts cardiovascular and oncology care affiliated with Duke Health. The hospital treats approximately 85,000 patients per year, and some 20,000 surgeries are performed there annually.

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According to a statement, over 700 workers have worked a total of more than one million man hours on the project so far. As is tradition, the top beam had an evergreen tree and flag on it when it was hoisted into position. The evergreen tree symbolizes good luck, growth, longevity, and the construction crew’s pride in their accomplishment.

Initially, the hospital will open about 70 beds, with the ability to open more in the future. The new tower will include additional operating rooms, a relocated Labor & Delivery department, postpartum beds, newborn nurseries, additional intensive care and medical/surgical beds, and space for expanding clinical departments.

Lexington Medical Center delivers the second highest number of babies in South Carolina each year, performs more than 23,000 surgeries annually, and operates the busiest emergency department statewide. With the population of Lexington County growing quickly, Lexington Medical Center needs to expand its facilities to meet the needs of a growing patient base. The 438-bed hospital remains full, with steady growth annually.

Healthcare Construction + Operations News spoke with Brasfield & Gorrie Vice President and Division Manager Michael Byrd, who oversees the company’s Charlotte, N.C., office, regarding the construction of the new patient tower.

Q: When did construction of the project begin, what is the expected completion date, and what is the anticipated budget?

Byrd: Construction began in June 2016. We’re scheduled to complete the new tower in February 2019. The renovation project extends another year into March 2020. The estimated total construction cost is $293 million currently.

Q: Have there been any challenges to date on the construction of this project?

Byrd: Yes, there have definitely been challenges. We’ve experienced difficulty with weather conditions during the course of the job, including hurricanes. In general, the challenges of working on a site this large in the middle of an active hospital campus include having to work around patients, staff, and the public. In addition to the busy hospital, there are active doctor’s offices surrounding the site, furthering the need to consider public safety. Despite these challenges, the project is on schedule.

Q: What will be the key/notable design features?

Byrd: The expansion includes a 550,000-square-foot, 12-story tower and a 70,000-square-foot, freestanding central utility building. It also includes a new parking deck with more than 900 spaces, and 125,000 square feet of renovations to the interior of the existing hospital. We also installed a new bridge to connect the tower to the existing facility.

Q: How will this addition influence/improve patient care?

The expansion will provide more space and updated facilities, enabling Lexington Medical Center to treat more patients and provide the best care possible. The parking facility will support the traffic and parking needs related to increased patient load.

Q: What best practices did you implement while working on this project that you would suggest to others?

Byrd: At the project’s outset, we focused on addressing patient safety, patient access, and allowing staff to continue to do their jobs effectively amid ongoing construction. In the preconstruction phase of the job, we studied how to manage the flow of traffic, the procurement of cranes, and the delivery and offloading of equipment. Our orientation process has been extensive; every time a new employee is hired, they have to receive training so they know exactly what they’re doing, where they’ll be doing it, and what will be around them to ensure they have the knowledge necessary to do their job in a safe manner.

We have also prefabricated select components for this project, including patient room headwalls, select bathroom features, a tunnel that connects the central energy plant to the parking deck and patient tower, and various mechanical, electrical, and plumbing components. The use of prefabrication for these components has aided schedule, quality, and safety, allowing the team to maximize use of the skilled workforce on site. Prefabricating select components off site has also helped minimize traffic congestion on the active hospital campus.

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