Healthcare

UCHealth is expanding the Longs Peak Hospital in Longmont, Colo., to foster improved patient outcomes and ensure the provision of high-level care in response to growing need in the surrounding community. Designed by Page, the three-part project will add 89,000 sf to the hospital campus and 35 beds, as well as 30,000 sf of interior renovation on the first three stories. The most recent phase comprised two new operating rooms, nine pre- and post-anesthesia care unit bays, three labor and delivery rooms, a caesarean-section room, and a helipad.

The design and planning of medical and health sciences education facilities serve as both the precursor and the wave of the future, with facilities that are not only mixed-use, but truly hybridized and integrated. Formerly siloed programs for nursing, medical, surgical, and pharmaceutical training reap exponential benefits from shared technology, resources, and spaces that enable multiple institutions and stakeholders to offer more robust programs. The hybrid building model mirrors a coevolving approach to healthcare, where teamwork is central, and training with the latest technologies is key. By accommodating the functions of multiple disciplines, forward-thinking institutions can both leverage available space and focus on creating environments for the interpersonal collaboration that underpins the experience of 21st-century health practitioners, as well as that of their patients.

Hospitals and healthcare systems are stepping up to manage difficult choices. COVID funds have expired, staff are difficult to find and expensive to hire, and reimbursements aren’t keeping up with inflation. For those who are planning new and renovated healthcare spaces, the focus is on becoming more labor- and cost-efficient, benefiting from technology-driven ways of delivering healthcare while not losing the personal, human touch.

On Feb. 4, 2023, the temperature in Boston plunged to -9 F. Unbeknownst to the team at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a rooftop access door at the Building for Transformative Medicine (BTM), which housed the facility’s vivarium, had been left unlocked. It was a costly oversight. Powerful winds forced the door open, exposing vital infrastructure to extreme cold. Sprinkler pipes froze, cracked, and ultimately burst when temperatures rose, unleashing a flood that cascaded through critical areas.

The University of Rochester Medical Center has repurposed a suburban retail center as the Saunders Orthopaedics & Physical Performance Center in Henrietta, New York. Designed by Perkins&Will and SLAM, the adaptive reuse project transformed the Marketplace Mall into a 372,400-sf healthcare destination. The renovation of 227,000 sf of existing space involved significant upgrades to building systems, minimizing vibration impacts to diagnostic imaging equipment and robotic-assisted surgical procedures.

The University of Salford will begin construction in October of 2024 on a new building for the School of Health and Society in the United Kingdom. Designed by AHR Architects, the 60,000-sf facility will optimize medical outcomes in the greater Manchester region by accelerating the recruitment, education, and training of the next generation of caregivers. The state-of-the-art instructional hub will offer three floors of teaching and clinical space for courses ranging from occupational therapy to sports science.