{"id":5031,"date":"2015-11-05T00:00:16","date_gmt":"2015-11-05T05:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.consigli.com\/?p=5031"},"modified":"2020-12-09T11:06:06","modified_gmt":"2020-12-09T16:06:06","slug":"building-todays-healthcare-trends-regional-medical-centers-to-urban-campuses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.consigli.com\/building-todays-healthcare-trends-regional-medical-centers-to-urban-campuses\/","title":{"rendered":"Building Today\u2019s Healthcare Trends\u2014Regional Medical Centers to Urban Campuses"},"content":{"rendered":"

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BOSTON, MA – <\/strong>Two top national healthcare construction trends\u2014building to support expanded healthcare services for regional communities, and the repurposing of existing facilities to optimize the efficiency of urban medical center campuses\u2014have come to life in Consigli\u2019s recent work for clients at Milford Regional Medical Center (MRMC), and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC).<\/p>\n

This fall\u2019s grand-opening of the expanded MRMC in Milford, Mass. celebrated the fact that for this community-focused medical center \u201cgreat care is going to get even better,\u201d as one MRMC nurse summed up the benefits of the 78,000-square-foot addition. This expansion reflects the national healthcare trend of keeping the best possible care close-to-home. The new wing increases the emergency department\u2019s capacity three-fold and adds much-needed intensive care and surgical facilities. Lean approaches, including the work of Consigli\u2019s pioneering Pre-Fab Lab, were instrumental in reaching opening day on time.<\/p>\n

And in Boston, Consigli\u2019s on-going work at BIDMC is helping the facilities team take the best care of their extensive medical campus, and build the renovations that support leading-edge healthcare in Boston\u2019s Longwood Medical Area. For the recent expansion of the BIDMC\u2019s East Campus\u2019 Interventional Radiology Suite, some of the project\u2019s most important work was done before construction began. To assure the smooth integration of the new suite\u2019s upgraded mechanical, electrical and plumbing (M\/E\/P) systems, the team used laser scans of the existing infrastructure to understand what was hidden above the 7,000-square-foot space\u2019s ceiling.<\/p>\n

Pre-Fabrication Brings Patient-Centered Expansion On-Line, On-Target:
\nMRMC\u2019s New Emergency Department and ICU Wing, Milford, Mass.<\/h3>\n

A four-year effort of true community collaboration, the expansion of Milford Regional Medical Center (MRMC) opened to great fanfare this month, within just three days of the original schedule, developed back in 2010.\u00a0 A labor of community pride, Consigli, a Milford-based company, was both the project\u2019s construction manager and part of the hometown spirit dedicated to building the new wing as well, and as speedily, as possible.<\/p>\n

The new Meehan Family Pavilion adds nearly 78,000 square feet of direct patient care to the medical center.\u00a0To meet the growing demand for Milford Regional\u2019s emergency services\u2014from 38,000 patients in 2000 to 56,000 last year, the emergency department has increased from 30 to 52 beds and doubled in size to nearly 30,000 square feet. The intensive care unit also expanded\u2014in this case from 4,600 to 13,000 square feet\u2014to accommodate today\u2019s advanced life-saving technologies.<\/p>\n

What kept this medical center expansion on track? A range of construction management strategies, most notably, Consigli\u2019s pioneering Pre-Fab Lab, developed at the company\u2019s headquarters in Milford. Used as the manufacturing center for the project\u2019s collaborative team of M\/E\/P sub-contractors, the Lab made the pre-fabrication of the project\u2019s M\/E\/P piping racks possible, which in turn allowed Consigli to hasten the project, while creating an even-more consistent project quality, and a safer work environment.<\/p>\n

While the use of pre-fabrication is not new in construction, Consigli is always looking for new ways to incorporate it, especially on projects for which it might not seem an obvious choice initially. Traditionally pre-fabrication is implemented primarily on projects of more than 100,000-square-feet, where the schedule and cost benefits of mass produced components is clear.<\/p>\n

Consigli\u2019s team, led by Project Executive Brian Hamilton, asked the question \u201cHow can we adapt pre-fabrication to smaller scale projects, so they can still reap its schedule, cost and safety benefits?\u201d Hamilton and his team determined two keys to the success of a scaled-to-fit pre-fabrication program. First, when construction managers partner with subcontractors who do not have their own pre-fabrication facility, the question of where the work will be done, is an important one. Consigli answered this question by transforming a warehouse at the company\u2019s headquarters into a manufacturing facility, aptly named the \u201cPre-Fab Lab.\u201d The Lab could then be shared by the multi-disciplinary trade teams\u2014in this case the project\u2019s mechanical and plumbing sub-contractors. And this leads to the second key\u2014to partner with sub-contractor companies who are willing to work collaboratively, with other trades.\u00a0 In the case of the MRMC expansion, the subs were eager to make this work.<\/p>\n

With more than 50 miles of mechanical piping in the new wing, Consigli was able to prepare many miles of this in the Pre-Fab Lab. Once fabricated, the racks were delivered to the site on the day scheduled for their installation, eliminating the need to store them on site, and simplifying material delivery. With this ultra-efficient M\/E\/P rack installation, the team was able to move to the next step in the construction process readily.<\/p>\n

With the Center now ready to help so many more, the community-based support that made this all possible can be seen through the finished building: the 50-plus donor plaques that double as exam room signage represent the varied community members that came together to make this expansion possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery person involved with this project, and every decision made about it, had one goal in mind, that being: to create a facility that would help us improve the health and well-being of our patients. It is quite literally a dream come true,\u201d said Francis Saba, MRMC\u2019s CEO, at the ribbon-cutting.<\/p>\n

Laser Sharp Exploration for an On Trend Renovation:
\nBIDMC\u2019s East Campus Interventional Radiology Suite, Boston, Mass.<\/h3>\n

Before the work to transform an existing BIDMC East Campus space into the new home for the Interventional Radiology suite, Consigli\u2019s team completed a proactive investigation of the 7,100-square-foot area\u2019s existing conditions, assuring an efficient construction phase for the new suite.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore construction began, we captured the question marks,\u201d explained Consigli\u2019s Project Manager, Sean O\u2019Keefe.<\/p>\n

Using 3D laser scans of the area\u2019s above-ceiling M\/E\/P systems, the team determined exactly where the existing systems were and could plan both the needed demolition and confirm the spatial layout for the new suite. With this accurate existing building data, Consigli was able to create a building information model to coordinate the integration of the M\/E\/P system upgrades seamlessly.<\/p>\n

With the work to build the new Interventional Radiology Suite divided into three phases, the team first built the area\u2019s new reading room and office, then the interventional radiology procedure areas, finishing this fall with the construction of the new suite\u2019s support areas. Each phase has been managed with strict adherence to Infection Control Risk Assessment (ICRA) procedures, including the use of temporary partitions, indoor air quality monitoring and daily site cleaning. The team\u2019s construction schedule was also developed to mitigate the effect of construction on BIDMC\u2019s patients and staff.<\/p>\n

Each phase began with interior demolition and included upgrades to the space\u2019s HVAC, electrical, plumbing and fire protection systems, the construction of new partitions, doors, ceilings, flooring and millwork and the installation of the unit\u2019s new imaging equipment.<\/p>\n

One in a series of projects with BIDMC over the last several years, Consigli is also completing a sequence of exploratory and enabling projects for the future reconstruction of BIDMC\u2019s main plaza.<\/p>\n