Healthcare

George Washington University Hospital is moving into a new 371-bed, six-level hospital in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood of Washington. The $100-million facility is the first hospital to open in the District in 25 years. Replacing a 501-bed hospital, the new building will feature increased technological and digital capacities. In addition to $20-million in equipment purchased over the last several years, the hospital will acquire $25-million in new equipment. Upon opening, operations of the hospital will be 85% digital, with completely digital operations within 18 months.

Howard County General Hospital is opening its new expanded emergency department in early July. The Columbia hospital’s new unit is three times as large as the previous emergency department, and is divided into three specific care levels: a pediatric care pod, an urgent care pod, and an acute care pod. The new emergency department will accommodate 70,000 patients annually.

INOVA Health Systems has selected the Washington, D.C. office of Turner Construction Company to construct the new INOVA Heart Institute in Falls Church. The $60-million project is scheduled for completion in January 2004. The architect is Wilmot/Sanz of Gaithersburg, Md.

Wills Eye Hospital, the nation's only free-standing eye hospital, opened its new bed-free, 125,000-sf outpatient hospital on July 1. The new $47-million medical center, located on top of the Walnut Towers in Center City, will offer advanced ophthalmology care and ambulatory surgery. The hospital will also house physician offices and research and education programs including a 200-seat auditorium.

The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is developing a $5-million cell-processing lab in the Longwood Medical area of Boston. Funded in part by Bethesda's National Institutes of Health (NIH), the facility will consolidate operations now located in several labs near the hospital. The 6,500-sf lab, located in the Jimmy Fund building, will feature state-of-the-art cell-manufacturing, cleanrooms, and air-purification systems. With separate rooms for different experiments, the facility will allow for expansion and diversification of processing functions.

Saint Raphael Healthcare System in New Haven, Conn. has selected TRO/The Ritchie Organization of Boston to develop a master site plan and provide program planning services to ensure the successful implementation of its strategic initiatives. This plan will address complete programs located at the Hospital of Saint Raphael's campus, St. Regis Health Center site, and multiple off-site locations.

David Grant Medical Center Vivarium at Travis Air Force Base has awarded Syska Hennessy Group Construction the contract to build a new enclosure for their outdoor animal area. The 5,300-sf, $1-million addition will provide a weatherproof, conditioned environment for clinical investigations.  

Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian has awarded McCarthy Building Companies a contract to build the new Women's Pavilion. Scheduled to begin construction in fall 2002, the new tower will consolidate women's services in one facility and will free up space in the existing tower to expand emergency care, outpatient and other hospital programs. Designed by Taylor & Associates Architects of Newport Beach, the 309,000-sf, seven-level tower includes a basement and a mechanical penthouse.

AMN Healthcare (AMN) has selected The Irving Hughes Group as construction manager for its new 172,000-sf corporate headquarters in Del Mar. The facility is being designed by San Diego-based Howard Sneed Architecture and Design, who also designed AMN's current nearby headquarters. The project will cost from $7-million to $7.5-million to build.   

Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health Professions and Payton Construction Corp. of Boston recently completed the conversion and renovation of Building 36 in Charlestown. The 72,000-sf renovation of the former Massachusetts Water Resources Authority building was delivered in three phases. The new facility will provide 20% more student lounge and study space, 30% more lab space, and 40% more classroom space than the Institute's previous Boston location.

Kaiser Permanente has opted to relocate its Northern California optical lab from Berkeley to Richmond instead of consolidating with a Southern California Kaiser lab. The 39,000-sf Richmond facility will house administration and manufacturing operations and will employ 140.

Sutter Solano Medical Center is planning a new outpatient care facility in Fairfield, Calif. The not-for-profit community hospital will also improve its Vallejo hospital's emergency department. Sutter Solano is a member of the Sutter Health network, which has planned to invest $3.5-billion in healthcare facilities through the next fifteen years.

Highland Hospital has selected RBB Architects Inc. to design a five-story critical care building. The Oakland facility, which will be built by Bellevue, Wa.-based MA Mortenson Co., includes a six-story parking structure. The $63-million, 325,000-sf building began construction in November of 1999 and is slated for completion in July of 2002.

Temple University is planning to build a new ambulatory healthcare center in Philadelphia next to its main hospital. The building, designed with the flexibility to potentially grow to 10 floors, will initially consist of two stories and a basement. Current plans include a sub-basement radiation therapy facility with the first floor housing patient registration and other radiation therapy. Traditional GI procedures, short procedure cases and some ambulatory surgery functions will be located on the second floor.

Genesis Health System has simultaneously expansionded inpatient care in Davenport, Iowa, with four additional cath labs and a new freestanding Heart Institute. The new building features a three-story lobby and joins the hospital via a glass-walled walkway. The building, designed by Madison, Wis.-based Flad & Associates and constructed by Estes Company of Davenport, houses state-of-the-art technology for diagnosis and treatment.  The $11-million, 80,000-sf project was completed in fall of 2001.