Inpatient Projects (July 2006)

State denies Orlando children’s hospital

NEMOURS’ OFFICIALS SAY THEY ARE STILL COMMITTED TO NEW FLORIDA FACILITY

By John Mugford

The Nemours Foundation of Jacksonville, Fla., has suffered a major setback in its goal to build a new children’s hospital in Orlando, Fla. In mid-June, the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) denied Nemours’ application to build a proposed $250 million, 95-bed facility.

Despite the setback, Nemours officials say they remain committed to the project, noting that they plan to analyze the AHCA denial documents and decide whether to appeal, reapply or both.

In its documents denying the application, the AHCA stated that the facility is not needed in Central Florida, adding that Nemours failed to prove that the new hospital would not hurt other children’s hospitals in the area. The state agency added that central Florida’s current hospitals with children’s services are meeting the needs of the population. It added that the number of children in Florida has been stable for the past five years and is expected to grow only slightly in the next five years.

In addition, AHCA pointed out that Nemours’ proposed hospital construction costs appeared to be high than other comparable projects. The state said it received 171 letters of opposition to the Nemours’ proposal from Orlando Regional Healthcare, Health Central, Health First, Halifax Community Health Systems, Kids’ Docs, Florida Hospital, the Congenital Heart Institute and Shands Teaching Hospitals.

After long wait,

TB hospital in

Texas advancing

AUSTIN, Texas – It’s been a long and winding road toward the building of a new facility to deal with a growing number of tuberculosis cases in Texas. But it now looks as if the political wrangling over the location for the 75-bed, $20 million hospital is over.

The Austin-based Texas Center for Infectious Disease recently re-started the process of building a new and larger facility to replace the current 1950s antiquated TB hospital in Austin.

The project manager, the Texas Building and Procurement Commission, recently hired an architect, Austin-based O’Connell Robertson & Associates, which is preparing plans for the replacement hospital. As it turns out, the new facility is to be built on the campus of the current TB hospital in the southeast area of Austin. Construction could be completed by late 2008 or early 2009.

During the last five years or so, the project has had its ups and downs. In fact, bonds for the state-run hospital were approved back in 2001, and a groundbreaking was held in August 2002. But soon after, the location for the new hospital became a political football. The Legislature stopped construction cold and embarked on a study to determine the best location.

Potential sites included a location closer to the University of Texas Health Science Center in Austin, and at the campus of the University of Texas Health Center in nearby Tyler.

The study, however, ultimately determined that the millions of dollars of infrastructure on the existing campus made that site the most cost-effective. The Legislature last year approved the project, and it advanced to the building commission for review.

The existing TB hospital, which was built in the 1950s and shares acreage with the State Hospital for people with mental illness, serves 40 to 50 patients at a time, according to officials with the Texas Center for Infectious Disease. Even though the outdated facility could accommodate more patients, it is limited by the number of specially outfitted rooms to care for people with tuberculosis in the contagious stages.

In the new hospital, all 75 rooms will be isolated and equipped with air that is completely changed and “scrubbed” at least 15 times an hour, according to officials. All traces of TB are removed from the air before it is discharged from the hospital.

Tuberculosis is treatable and has been held in check for decades. But some people are more vulnerable than others, including those living in poverty and crowded conditions. As a result, there have been some outbreaks of the disease in recent years.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said 14,000 cases of TB were reported in 2003. Texas sees many cases because of its proximity to the impoverished border area of Mexico, according to federal officials.
Hospital construction

is up 25 percent,

organization says

WASHINGTON – Even though single-family home construction has slowed nationwide, significant growth in non-residential projects, including hospital construction, has eased the pain, according to the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC).

The Washington, D.C.-based trade association said that based on Census Bureau data, construction spending in April of this year was 8.5 percent higher than in April 2005. At a seasonably adjusted annual rate, it was nearly $1.2 trillion, down a fraction of a percentage point from March of this year.

According to AGC officials, actual construction spending from January through April of this year was 8.9 percent higher than during the same period last year.

Private non-residential construction was up 10.8 percent year-to-date, public construction gained 9.7 percent, and private residential spending was 7.8 percent stronger, said economists with AGC.

Standing out among construction categories were manufacturing and multi-retail shopping centers, shopping malls, and general merchandise stores, which posted year-to-date increases of between 22 percent and 37 percent.

Close behind was hospital construction, which experienced construction spending growth of 25 percent.

Construction projects

pepper California’s

San Bernardino area

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Nashville, Tenn.-based HealthLeaders-InterStudy, which provides intelligence to the healthcare industry, reports that several of the 35 hospitals in the Riverside-San Bernardino area of California are planning costly construction and expansion projects. According to the latest issue of the Riverside Market Overview, projects in the pipeline include the construction of three for-profit and two not-for-profit hospitals, expanded emergency rooms, cardiology facilities, and medical office buildings (MOBs).

Three factors are driving hospital construction in what is known as the Inland Empire, according to analysts with HealthLeaders-InterStudy. Those are California’s seismic safety requirements, regional population growth, and a shift from money-losing medical services to providing more lucrative services.

Leading the expansion spree is Kaiser Permanente with plans to invest more than $1.1 billion in the Riverside-San Bernardino area by 2013. With membership in Kaiser Foundation Health Plan growing steadily, Kaiser Permanente is increasing its existing medical facility capacity, staking out new territories, such as Ontario, Calif., and keeping an eye on opportunities in the Victorville area.

Other hospitals planned or under way include the for-profit Community Health Systems’ new Barstow Community Hospital, the for-profit California Heart and Surgical Hospital, which is owned by a physician partnership, and United Health Services’ 320-bed, for-profit hospital in Temecula.

To improve their financial fortunes and offset the cost of new construction, some hospital systems are discarding money-losing facilities and services to make room for facilities that offer more lucrative services. For example, Catholic Healthcare West replaced a convalescent center with a pediatric sub-acute care center at its Community Hospital of San Bernardino. Also, Valley Health System expanded its emergency room at Hemet Valley Medical Center by closing its behavioral health space.

Sequoia Hospital

in California

revises expansion

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City, Calif., has revised its plans for a $130 million expansion and renovation, designed to meet the state’s seismic safety requirements.

The project, if approved, would seismically retrofit the hospital’s core area of 343,000 square feet but otherwise leave the building alone. An additional 55,402 square feet would be added while nearly 3,000 square feet would be demolished.

Part of the plan entails replacing a skilled nursing facility with a three-story medical office building (MOB) and a two-level parking deck. In addition, the project would add a hospital pavilion and another parking structure, this one with more than four levels.

The final facility is expected to have 167 beds, which is change from the current total despite the extra square footage. New medical standards call for more space per patient, according to hospital officials.

New revisions to the plan include the relocation of the main entrance and a new location for the MOB – to a spot behind the hospital. The changes are geared toward improving pedestrian and vehicle traffic around the campus, officials say.

The project will still be subject to an Environmental Impact Report (EIR), which will be written after receiving more public commentary at an upcoming meeting. The city’s Planning Commission expects to hold a hearing on the draft document next January, followed by a forum on the final EIR in March. If the schedule holds, the City Council should get the final plans in April.

The new hospital needs to be built by the state-mandated deadline of 2016.

Florida denies

hospital proposed

for Poinciana
KISSIMMEE, Fla. – Osceola Regional Medical Center in Kissimmee, Fla., saw a need for a new hospital in a nearby master planned community, but the state of Florida did not.

The result is that Osceola’s proposed 60-bed acute-care hospital in Poinciana will not be built. The state’s Agency for Health Care Administration (ACHA) said the provider did not demonstrate that there was enough of a need based on population growth.

Medical center officials had argued that Poinciana’s population is growing quickly and will continue to grow. The current population of the planned community is 64,000, with projections indicating that the number of residents will grow to 86,000 by 2010. In addition, hospital officials say local residents complain that they currently have to drive 30 minutes to the nearest hospital.

Osceola Regional officials said they were “surprised” and disappointed by the AHCA decision. The application was opposed by Florida Hospital, which is based in Orlando and operates 13 hospitals in Central Florida, and by Naples-based Health Management Associates, which owns St. Cloud Regional Medical Center and Heart of Florida Regional Medical Center in nearby Davenport. Those systems argued that the existing hospitals were able to serve Poinciana residents.

The state agreed, saying future growth can be accommodated by Osceola Regional’s existing hospital and other nearby facilities. In a report released Friday, the state noted that Osceola Regional, whose parent is Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Inc., recently completed a new 20-bed patient tower and has additional land on which to build another  patient wing.

Osceola Regional officials say they will review the state report and decide whether to appeal or re-submit an application. The hospital system has a contract to buy 40 acres in Poinciana from Avatar Properties. The plan also includes a $6.5 million medical office building (MOB), which the provider plans to build despite the hospital denial.

For the Record

St. Luke’s Episcopal Health System in Houston has finally confirmed that it intends to move forward on a new 100-bed hospital and MOB in the suburb of Sugar Land, Texas. When local news media reported in May that St. Luke’s was planning the hospital, the provider called the report “premature.” But now the system says it has entered an agreement with area doctors in creating the Sugar Land Partnership LLP, which will operate the hospital and MOB. The developer is Houston-based MediStar Corp., which purchased 13 acres for a 110,000 square foot MOB that will be connected to the hospital. Construction is slated to start in August, with a scheduled completion date of fall 2007… Tenet Healthcare Corp. (NYSE: THC) of Dallas recently broke ground on a new hospital complex that will serve the East Side community in El Paso, Texas. The $130 million Sierra Providence Eastside Hospital is to be located within a planned 42-acre complex that would include three MOBs. The main hospital will open with 100 beds and have enough room to expand to 159 beds within the first year. The complex is expected to open in early 2008… San Diego-based Scripps Health is moving forward with plans for a $360 million, 144-bed replacement hospital for Scripps Memorial Hospital-La Jolla (Calif.).  The facility, to be completed in five to seven years, will house the new Scripps Cardiovascular Institute, which will combine the cardiac programs at La Jolla and the 153-bed Scripps Green Hospital, also in La Jolla. Officials with Scripps Health said they are still planning the remaining two phases of the three-phase project to replace Scripps Memorial-La Jolla… The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has announced an expansion plan at the Louis Stokes VA Medical Center in Cleveland. The expansion includes an eight-story, 268,000 square foot patient tower that will house the hospital’s comprehensive rehabilitation center, nursing and home care department, mental health department, and a number of programs. Cannon Design is providing planning and architectural services, while Cleveland-based Westlake Reed Leskosky is providing architectural and engineering services. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2007, with completion expected by late 2009… St. Luke’s Hospital in Chesterfield, Mo., near St. Louis, is planning $57 million worth of construction projects to keep up with demand. The planned projects include the $50 million West Campus Outpatient Center. The other project is a $7 million expansion of the hospital’s heart institute in its main building. McCarthy Building Cos. is the general contractor while ACI Boland is the architect…  Forsyth Medical Center of the Triad area in North Carolina is planning a 50-bed hospital in the growing town of Kernersville, N.C. The future hospital would sit on a 23-acre site.