Located on an eight-acre site at the south end of the DMC campus, the $78 million, six-story structure is one of the first in the Great Lake region to offer comprehensive cardiovascular care in a dedicated facility. Before opening the Heart Hospital, all of DMC’s cardiovascular care was provided at DMC Harper University Hospital.

The new hospital specializes in a wide range of minimally invasive treatment options and preventive services.

“Advances in technology now enable us to treat many different heart problems in a minimally invasive way for faster recovery and shorter hospital stays,” said Theodore L. Schreiber, M.D., president of the DMC Cardiovascular Institute and DMC Heart Hospital, in a statement. “With the launch of this world-class facility, designed and dedicated for the care of heart patients with a focus on minimally invasive techniques, DMC is taking another major step toward becoming an internationally recognized center of excellence in cardiovascular medicine.”

The hospital features six catheterization labs and other procedure rooms to perform minimally invasive treatments to open and repair heart arteries, treat heart rhythm abnormalities and restore blood flow to the legs. The facility also has advanced imaging technologies, electrocardiogram and stress testing to diagnose cardiovascular disorders.

The Heart Hospital houses the DMC Cardiovascular Institute, where heart and vascular specialists and interventional cardiologists, known as Cardio Team One, are on site 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The 215,000-square-foot facility also has a retail pharmacy, physician offices and a new parking structure with more than 1,700 spaces.

“I always wanted to build one of the finest heart facilities in America right here in the city of Detroit. I think the quality of the services at DMC cardiology rival anybody in the country and now the facilities rival anybody,” said Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan at the opening ceremony.

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“Working with drywall in health care facilities increases the risk of airborne media being ingested by patients,” said John Miller, East Campus program manager with the Detroit Medical Center.

The large amount of dust created by gypsum can get into wounds or, even worse, may be ingested by patients with compromised immune systems, Miller said. Dust may also be tracked from one end of the hospital to another. Additionally, if drywall becomes wet for any reason, it will grow mold, which introduces a whole new set of health risks.

With just five months to construct the new unit, the project team was also attracted to the simplicity of applying prefabricated walls.

“We were weighing the differences between the dry wall and the modular wall. The modular could get installed faster, it would be greener and it would be more durable,” said Maureen Reilly, project coordinator at the Detroit Medical Center. “Also, if you don’t want modular walls anymore, you can just take them down. You don’t have to demolish them and create the dust again.

The medical center chose DIRTT, a manufacturer of customized and prefabricated interiors, to provide the custom, prefabricated walls for the project. The replaceable, quicker, easier and cleaner solution was a better option due to the evolving nature of health care facilities.

“I know it’s difficult to change things in the construction world and it’s kind of a leap of faith for some craftsmen, but I think it’s the way things are going because we’re constantly changing areas to serve as one use and maybe a year later we have to use it to serve as something else,” Reilly said.
The flexible DIRTT walls exceeded the expectation of the officials at the Detroit Medical Center, Reilly said. Available in several variations and capable of replacing certain parts, the custom walls are able to fit any future needs of the space.

“There is no one right answer to all health care issues,” Miller said. “I think this product provides flexibility, it provides quickness and it provides a number of other qualities that are difficult to get in your typical health care construction project.”

The Detroit Medical Center is considering the use of DIRTT walls in future construction projects, according to Miller.

“This is something that is a solution for schedule-sensitive projects and is a solution for projects that are looking for a unique image,” he said. “DIRTT was a very flexible, creative, interesting assembly that conveyed a very nice image for the unit.”

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