Providence Operating Room Renovation
UNIT COMPANY was approached by Providence Alaska to enclose an existing courtyard area on a fast track schedule to assure completion prior to the on set of winter. We accepted the challenge and completed the enclosure in four weeks. This 10,000 SF project was the start of a 14-month project that we constructed under a cost plus contract.
The work involved relocation and reconstruction of a sterile corridor to allow expansion of the existing heart surgery operating room and construction of a new heart surgery room. All of the existing major utilities serving the operating rooms: electrical, HVAC, plumbing and medical gases, were relocated while kept in operation via temporary reroutes during construction.
Three existing operating rooms were renovated into two larger rooms for general surgery. A new orthopedic surgery room was constructed within the existing surgery suite core. Each one of the new surgery rooms was completely demolished and reconstructed in 6-week phases. The design of each operating room was completed just prior to construction. As each phase was completed the next design incorporated the ideas and lessons learned from the recently completed areas.
The entire surgery sterile core HVAC system was enlarged to accommodate colder, denser airflow required by the heart surgeons. The electrical systems were upgraded for the new operating room lights as well as the new general lighting requirements of the project. Structural upgrades were also required to support the new systems installed in the surgery rooms. A new 1,040 SF locker room and nurses station/lounge area was also constructed as part of the project.
All of this work was accomplished working in a fully operational hospital environment. Substantial temporary barriers and systems were used to seal off the construction area from the medical environment. Temporary routes for the patient and staff movement and egress were constantly updated. Close coordination with the nursing staff to eliminate disruptions to the hospital staff was vital to the success of the project.