Healthcare

Medical College of Georgia Hospitals and Clinics will spend $163 million in the next three years on capital improvements. The projects include a $23 million Comprehensive Cancer Center; an $8.3 million expansion of the Neuroscience Center of Excellence including ten universal ICU beds; $20.6 million in cardiovascular services improvements; $10.3 million in imaging equipment; a $7.8 million renovation of obstetric and gynecological facilities; $6.5 million in image storage and retrieval technology; and a $3.6 million linear accelerator for radiation therapy.

St. Mary’s Good Samaritan Hospital will construct a replacement hospital on 50 acres in Mt. Vernon, Ill. The project is expected to cost between $180 million and $220 million. Construction could begin as early as year-end 2007 and reach completion in 2011. BSA Design of Indianapolis has been selected as the project architect. The site will also include a surgery center and a medical office building.

The University of Kansas Medical Center celebrated the opening of the 205,000-sf Life Sciences Innovation Center in Kansas City in December of 2006. The five-story, $57.2-million facility was designed by Cannon Design of Grand Island, N.Y., and GLPM Architects of Lawrence, Kansas, to accommodate collaborative research in neuroscience, reproductive biology, and proteomics. The facility houses laboratories, conference rooms, and shared equipment areas to encourage team research.

The Medical College of Georgia dedicated its $34-million, 189,000-sf Health Sciences Building in Augusta, Ga., on January 19, 2007. The facility houses laboratories, classrooms, and clinics for the Schools of Nursing and Allied Health Sciences. An occupational therapy community integration suite is located on the second floor. The building features a two-story education wing of school-shared classroom space and five stories of specialized classrooms, labs, and office space. It has three large, auditorium-style classrooms equipped with distance-learning technology.

The University of Florida broke ground in January of 2007 on the 500,000-sf Shands Cancer Hospital in Gainesville, Fla. The $388-million facility will accommodate diagnostic and therapeutic oncology services in an nine-story tower with 192 private inpatient beds. The hospital will include an operating suite, a Critical Care Center for trauma and emergency services, and an 800-car parking garage.

Cooper University Hospital is constructing a $218-million inpatient pavilion in Camden, N.J. The technology-rich ten-story structure was designed by EwingCole to enhance patient care and limit complications such as infections. The facility features private rooms, dispersed nursing stations, abundant natural light, hand washing sinks outside every patient room, and noise-reducing ceilings. Completion is slated for fall of 2008.

The Edmonton Clinic, a partnership of the University of Edmonton and Alberta's Capital Health, will begin construction in 2007 on a $589-million, 1.6 million-sf facility in Edmonton. Integrating healthcare, research, and learning, the project will include over 61 groups from both the private and public sector including pharmaceutical science and rehabilitation medicine.

St. Elizabeths Hospital broke ground in December 2006 on a two-story, $140-million psychiatric care facility on its Washington, D.C., campus. Accommodating 292 patients in private rooms, the 438,000-sf facility will feature a 20,000-sf "green roof" for energy savings and drainage reduction. The general contractor for the project is Tompkins Builders, a subsidiary of Turner Construction. Completion is slated for March of 2009.

Winnipeg Health Sciences Center celebrated the groundbreaking of the $35-million Siemens Institute for Advanced Medicine (SIAM) in December of 2006. The 80,000-sf research center features the new $100-million Ann Thomas Critical Services Building, a facility that will accommodate trauma operating rooms and leading-edge patient care when it opens in early 2007. The project will also include a $25-million hotel sited within the complex.

North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System has recently completed a new diagnostic imaging center designed by Swanke Hayden Connell Architects (SHCA) in Lake Success, New York. Part of the Center for Advanced Medicine, the 15,000-sf technology-rich, completely digital facility includes modalities such as MRI, CT, SPECT, PETCT, and standard radiography and ultrasound rooms.

Houston Healthcare has selected Gilbane Building Company as the construction manager at-risk for phase I of its master plan to ultimately replace Houston Medical Center, the main hospital campus in Warner Robins, Georgia. Phase I will consist of a new central energy plant, a new four-story bed tower, and renovations to the existing 186-bed facility. The new building will be approximately 134,000 sf including a 30,000-sf basement.

Texas A&M Health Science Center is planning a new Health Science Center on 200 acres in Bryan, Texas. The first phase of the master plan for the site may include three buildings at a cost of $128 million. Fifty of the acres at the Bryan campus will accommodate public/private partnerships. Slated for completion by year-end 2010, the design includes an education building with a possible nursing or pharmacy component and a simulation center allowing medical students to practice treatment on dummies.

Danbury Hospital has initiated construction on its new Outpatient Diagnostic Building in Danbury, Conn. The total project is valued at $44 million. Skanska USA Building is providing construction management services for the 60,000-sf, three story building as well as a new 366-space parking garage.

The University of California, Irvine is constructing a new 480,000-sf academic medical center at its existing medical campus in Orange, Calif. The $371-million hospital will accommodate 191 beds with space for future expansion. Designed by HOK, the seven story plus basement facility will feature 13 operating rooms; three interventional procedure rooms; laboratories; adult, pediatric, and neonatal ICUs; private patient rooms; a burn unit; and a connecting link to the existing tower structure.

The University of Ottawa opened the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre in October of 2006. The tower, comprised of a public hospital and its affiliated research institute, the uOttawa Institute of Mental Health Research, features state-of-the-art laboratories and technology. Construction began on the $132-million, 399,178-sf facility in December of 2004. Housing 188 inpatient beds, the hospital consists of nine three-story inpatient care units with a central open-air garden environment. The seven-story tower houses research, administration, and education.