Inpatient Projects: Work started on $284M Sutter hospital

SANTA ROSA, CALIF., REPLACEMENT FACILITY WILL REPLACE A 1983 STRUCTURE

By John Mugford

These days, when new hospitals are planned and built they are quite often replacements for aging and inefficient facilities with too many beds.

Today’s hospitals are typically smaller, sleeker, packed with the latest in medical and monitoring technology, and more user-friendly amenities for patients and their visitors.

This is certainly the goal of Sutter Health as it embarks on the building of a new replacement hospital in Santa Rosa, Calif., about 50 miles north of San Francisco.

After a number of delays that included fighting a lawsuit filed by four local entities – including two nearby public hospital districts – Sutter has started construction on the future $284 million, 84-bed replacement hospital on a site about 4.2 miles north of the current Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa. That hospital was completed in 1938 and is licensed for 135 beds.

The replacement hospital, which is slated for completion in October 2014, is under construction on a 25-acre site on Mark-West Springs Road, just off U.S. Highway 101 and next to the Wells Fargo Performing Arts Center, a frequent concert venue.

As for the technology in the future hospital, officials say the facility will include electronic monitoring of patients in the intensive care unit (ISU), electronic health records, wireless telemetry, and a nursing communication system that allows patients to stay connected with their care professionals at all times.

The facility has also been designed to adapt to changing and emerging advancements in treatments and procedures as well as healthcare technology, according to officials.

The architect on the project is Minneapolis-based HGA Architects and Engineers, which also has offices in San Francisco and Sacramento; the general contractor is Sacramento-based Unger Construction Co.

According to officials with Sutter as well as HGA and Unger Construction, the hospital is being designed and built with “the most advanced building technologies and sustainable strategies by using Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) methods that will significantly streamline the construction process and reduce costs.”

“By using IPD methods, we created a platform to ensure that keystone patient experiences – such as lobby spaces and waiting rooms – as well as sustainability components, weren’t sacrificed due to budget constraints,” said Greg Osecheck, principal-in-charge of the project in HGA’s Sacramento office, in a statement.

“In fact, with new technology such as 3D Building Information Modeling (BIM), (the) team was able to conceptualize together to reduce unknowns, create opportunities for cost savings, and design a facility that will serve the Sutter Health community for years to come.”
The two-story facility will include a diagnostic and treatment block, a patient wing, helistop, and an observation unit that will accommodate patients who do not require hospitalization but do need up to 24 hours of nursing care.

The replacement was needed, in large part, to be compliant with California’s seismic safety law, otherwise known as Senate Bill 1953.

Sutter and the project team are aiming for LEED Silver certification from U.S. Green Building Council, and the facility will incorporate sustainability strategies that include: A waste management program to recycle at least 75 percent of all construction and demolition waste; an advanced building management system that can monitor and control humidity, air flow, and exterior lighting; and efficient landscaping irrigation technology with bio-swales and catch basins on site.

The design also includes a transportation management plan that uses bike paths, carpool preferential parking and electric vehicle charging stations aimed at encouraging a reduction of auto emissions.
Other features of the hospital include a 40-bed medical/surgical unit; a 12-bay emergency department (ED) with helipad; a 24-bed observation unit; an imaging department; six operating rooms (ORs) that include orthopedic and cardiac surgery services; a 10-bed post-anesthesia care unit (PACU); and a 12-bed intensive care unit (ICU).

Also included is a family birthing center with a 10-bed labor, delivery and recovery (LDR) unit with two labor pool rooms, a 20-bed post-partum unit, two C-section rooms, a 12-bed newborn ICU, and a 300-square-foot sleeping room for families with hotel-like accommodations.

The future campus will also include an 80,000 square foot medical office building (MOB) that will be developed by Brookfield, Wis.-based Hammes Co.

(For more on that project, please see “Hammes Co. chosen for California MOB” on Page 7 of this edition of Healthcare Real Estate Insights^™.)

Orlando Regional starts $297 million project, new tower

ORLANDO, Fla. – Orlando Regional Medical Center recently broke ground on a project that officials say will not only change the configuration of the hospital’s bricks and mortar, but how it operates as well.

The $297 million Redesign and Renovation Project – perhaps the most significant in the organization’s history – calls for the building of a 10-story, 345,000 square foot tower with 190-plus beds.

In addition, the project is expected to include a significant increase in the size of the ED as well as additions and renovations to the existing cardiovascular, surgical, critical care, pharmacy and laboratory areas.

“Not only are we breaking ground on the Redesign and Renovation Project, we are breaking ground on a new model of care,” Sherrie Sitarik, president and CEO of Orlando Health, said in a statement.

“Beyond the physical construction aspects, the ORMC Redesign and Renovation Project is a part of this transition and is key to changing the way we care for patients.”

The idea behind the project, according to officials, is to consolidate services and bring together “the people, places, technology and other components necessary to foster the environment needed to truly put patients first.”

For example, doctors, surgeons and clinical staff will be brought together to provide advanced diagnostic services, the latest surgical and non-surgical treatment options, comprehensive education and innovative research in what officials call a “more streamlined and efficient way.”

The project also creates, according to officials, a more centralized downtown Orlando campus to foster the “new patient experience, including greater accessibility to clinical experts, more coordinated and collaborated care, advanced diagnostics and more timely results.”

As a result of the project, ORMC plans to close its Lucerne Pavilion, an inpatient facility located a couple of blocks from the main campus.

Officials say the consolidation will result in better service for patients as well as greater efficiency and cost savings for the organization. For example, the cost of transporting patients between ORMC’s main campus and the Lucerne Pavilion is about $2 million annually.

The 93,000 square foot Annex building at the Lucerne Pavilion, which offers inpatient rehabilitation services, will remain open.

However, officials are currently considering options for the other facility at the site, a 211,000 square foot, 44-year-old building.

The architect is Dallas-based HKS Inc., which also has an office in Orlando. Birmingham, Ala.-based Brasfield & Gorrie LLC, which has an office in Lake Mary, Fla., is the general contractor.

Work to start soon on hospital in Willits, Calif.

WILLITS, Calif. – Building permits have been issued and the California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) has signed off on the final documents that will allow the building of a new Frank R. Howard Memorial Hospital in Willits.

The future 25-bed, 75,000 square foot replacement hospital is expected to cost about $61.2 million and be built a short distance from the current Frank R. Howard Memorial Hospital in the heart of Willits, a city of about 5,000 residents located about 120 miles north of San Francisco.