University of Michigan Recognized for New Hospitals

The University of Michigan’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital and Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital in Ann Arbor, which share a single structure, have been ranked among the top 100 most innovative and inspiring infrastructure projects in the world by KPMG. The audit, tax and advisory firm began presenting the awards in 2011. The hospitals were among only 14 U.S. projects recognized in the second edition of the awards. Opened in December of 2011, the hospitals consist of a 12-story inpatient wing, and a nine-story outpatient wing, covering 1.1 million square feet.

The structure includes 348 beds, with 50 of them being private maternity rooms, along with 46 designated for the neonatal intensive care unit. The building was designed by HKS Architects, out of Dallas, with Michigan firm Barton Mallow serving as the construction manager. The total project cost $754 million, with $75 million of that coming from philanthropic organizations and the rest coming from the university. Groundbreaking for the project occurred in February of 2007 and doors opened in December of 2011. Both hospitals are teaching hospitals with students in a wide range of disciplines getting hands-on experience at any given time.

A focus on green design led the hospital to choose a rubberized floor instead of wax flooring that must be constantly reapplied. The hospital also chose LED lighting when possible and installed motion sensors in each room to save energy. A green roof was installed, with 70,000 individual seedlings planted four years ago, which reduces the heating and cooling costs of the structure. The hospital received a LEED Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council for its efforts.

Associate Hospital Administrator Loree Collett served as a project lead. She was particularly suited to represent the nursing perspective, as she spent many of her formative years as a nurse working in the university’s hospital system in the intensive care unit before advancing into leadership roles.

“It was exciting for me to come in after I worked as a nurse in this hospital for so many years and be a part of the team that designed the new hospital,” she said.

She and a physician teamed to represent the perspectives of their two fields and were involved in planning the new structure from the ground up.

Collett said one of her first priorities was to get the orthopedic clinic and radiology department adjacent to each other. “In our old hospital they were several floors and several buildings away from each other,” she explained.

The administrator said the new arrangement was a big improvement because patients in crutches or wheelchairs could receive everything they needed on one floor and never have to deal with an elevator or travel long distances. She said this principle was extended throughout the structure. The Von Voigtlander Women’s Hospital’s women’s clinic is now on the same floor as the birthing clinic. Outpatient and inpatient cancer facilities are also now located on the same floor as each other, and visitor areas were consolidated to create a stand-alone environment on the second floor, including a chapel, gift shop, family center, cafeteria, and a two-story atrium seating area.

Collett said another focus was to go from semi-private rooms to private in all areas, providing a better experience for long-term visitors who want to stay in the hospital with their child. Every patient room has a sleep chair or sofa that one family member can use to stay overnight. The family waiting areas associated with each clinic also have sleep couches and chairs. An in-house Ronald McDonald house provides 12 private rooms for families who visit the hospital because of an emergency. An additional Ronald McDonald house is located across the street with 29 more rooms, and local hotels give a hospital friendly rate for overflow.

The hospital was specifically designed for Michigan’s requirement that all patients must have a window exterior view. Two curved edges of the structure house all patient rooms, ensuring each has a view of the nearby arboretum, as opposed to views of office buildings or walls. Even the operating departments have floor to ceiling walls a short walk away from the operating rooms so that staff can get a view of the natural environment outside while on break.

One of Collett’s favorite features was a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtering system for all inpatient areas. She explained cancer patients often have compromised immune systems, meaning they can become secluded in hospitals.

“In our old environment we often would put them in a patient room, we’d put a portable HEPA filter in their room, shut their door, and basically that was their life until they were discharged. What we were able to do in this new hospital is HEPA filter the entire inpatient building. Those kinds of patients now can leave their room, go down the hallway and go into a playroom or into another location with the same high air quality that they need.”