Healthcare

The University of South Florida opened the $25-million Johnnie B. Byrd, Sr., Alzheimer's Center & Research Institute in Tampa on Sept. 15, 2007. Designed by HDR Architecture, the 108,000-sf, seven-story building is the only free-standing Alzheimer’s research facility in the world. The center is sited on 2.6 acres and houses flexible research laboratories for 8 scientific teams, a clinic, an imaging center, offices, and a vivarium. The design of the tower includes future construction of a wing extending east and north.

Walter Reed Army Medical Center opened the Military Advanced Training Center (MATC) in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 13, 2007. The 31,000-sf facility offers unprecedented medical care and services for amputees and limb-loss patients. The facility provides “one stop shopping” for Warrior Care, offering therapy and exercise areas, computer simulation training for military specific tasks; and offices for psychologists, Veterans Affairs representatives, social workers, benefits counselors, researchers, physicians, and nurse case managers.

The University of Oklahoma broke ground in September of 2007 on the $7.5 million Cancer Institute and Harold Hamm Oklahoma Diabetes Center in Tulsa. Housing research, diagnosis, treatment, and education, the 23,000-sf facility is slated for completion in January of 2009.

Fort Wayne Medical Oncology & Hematology dedicated its $7 million physician-owned Comprehensive Cancer Center in Fort Wayne, Ind. on September 14, 2007. Housing facilities for research, treatment, and support, the 48,000-sf project was built in cooperation with Lutheran Hospital. The two-story facility is attached to the existing Medical Office Building Two which houses physicians from Radiation Oncology Associates.

The University of Kentucky began construction in fall of 2007 on the 286,200-sf College of Pharmacy facility in Lexington. The largest college of pharmacy yet constructed, the building will accommodate 47,700-sf on each of its six floors when it opens in 2010. The project is part of the University of Kentucky’s $2.5 billion plan to replace its existing hospital with a new medical campus for education and research.

AstraZeneca has partnered with Peking University to open the Clinical Pharmacology Unit (CPU) on Sept. 4, 2007 in Beijing, China. Accommodating research on therapies for infections, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases, the facility will accelerate progress from phase one drug development to the subsequent phases of clinical research. AstraZeneca is investing funds for facility upgrades to support clinical research and will provide personnel training, consulting, and system audits to Peking University Third Hospital.

University College Dublin’s School of Medicine has partnered with The Mater and St. Vincent's Healthcare Group to create Ireland’s first academic medical center. Dublin Academic Health Care opens in September 2007 and will contain over 1,400 beds. Accommodating approximately 100,000 patient visits annually, the partnership will increase access to specialists, improve patient care, and foster translational research.

Sanford University of South Dakota Medical Center is planning to construct the 18-story Sanford Research Park on 185 acres in Sioux Falls. The project, estimated at over $100 million, will house Sanford’s advanced research projects as well as biomedical tenants. Sanford is currently constructing a $52-million pediatric hospital and a $9-million addition to Sanford's cancer center which are slated for completion in early fall of 2007.

NorthBay Healthcare has contracted Siemens Building Technologies to implement facilities improvements at its Fairfield and Vacaville, Calif., hospitals. Through energy efficiency upgrades and retrofits, NorthBay will save energy costs and improve staff and patient comfort. Upon completion, the two hospitals combined are guaranteed to save 2,765,634 kWh of electricity annually, equating to a substantial savings over the 10-year life of the performance-based contract.

The University of South Florida (USF) opened the $33 million South Tampa Center for Advanced Healthcare on Davis Islands in late summer of 2007. The 126,000-sf, seven-story medical office building provides a single location for a wide variety of medical services, replacing several existing outpatient clinics on Davis Islands. Housing 187 faculty offices, 94 exam rooms, a diagnostic imaging center, and a patient education center, the paperless facility will feature a $15 million electronic medical record system.

Emory University's Woodruff Health Sciences Center broke ground on the $365 million Emory Clinic in Atlanta on August 27, 2007. The five-story complex will house 470,000-sf of dedicated patient care space, outpatient services, offices, medical training, and parking. The flexible and efficient facility will accommodate clinical and translational research and treatment. Construction is slated to begin in 2008. When the facility is occupied in the summer of 2012, an existing Emory clinic will undergo a $30 million renovation to accommodate biomedical research.

Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Amarillo is initiating three major construction projects totaling $33 million. Ground was broken in late summer of 2007 on the 48,000-sf, $18 million Coulter Research Building for biomedical and translational research. The School of Pharmacy will undergo an $8 million, 23,000-sf expansion to house administration, academic space, two 120-seat instructional classrooms, a 26-station instructional laboratory, and a patient simulation center for teaching and assessment. Construction will begin in early 2008.

Boston-based Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is planning to invest $1 billion over the next 15 years to expand its facilities. At the Longwood Medical Area campus, over 550,000 sf of patient care space will be added, including operating rooms, clinical space, and 130 beds. A new suburban ambulatory care center will also be constructed. Estimated at between 100,000 sf and 150,000 sf, the facility will include primary and specialist care, ambulatory surgery, and radiology. 

The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers is developing Proposed Standard 189.2, “Design, Construction and Operation of High-Performance Green Health Care Facilities.” Describing procedures, methods, and documentation requirements for sustainable health care facilities, the standard will be a code-intended baseline for efficiency and performance. It will apply to patient care areas and related support areas, including hospitals, nursing facilities and outpatient facilities.

The University of Rochester is constructing a $42.5 million facility for the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center at the University of Rochester Medical Center. The 163,000-sf, four-story building doubles existing space for clinical and translational research and includes a three-story glass atrium. Ground was broken on the project in May of 2006 and completion is slated for spring of 2008.