Opened in April 2022, the Kids’s Hospital of New Orleans’ 34-phase campus renovation and growth elevated the hospital’s footprint by 235,000 sq. toes. The venture included a renovated and expanded emergency division (ED), new behavioral well being ED, expanded cardiac intensive care unit (C-ICU), and 600-car parking construction.
As a part of the campus transformation in New Orleans, the venture crew additionally centered on offering a contemporary central utility plant (CUP). Among the many targets had been to raised assist the expanded and modernized facility in addition to workers members.
Previous to the venture, the present four-story CUP didn’t have an elevator for workers to entry the completely different flooring and the tools was combined all through, says Vince M. Rea, operations supervisor at TLC Engineering Solutions (New Orleans). The agency supplied the mechanical, electrical, plumbing, hearth safety, and expertise companies on the venture.
Moreover, Rea says proprietor Louisiana Kids’s Medical Middle Well being was considering a design that supported redundancy and resiliency. These targets had been pushed by the hospital’s location close to a financial institution of the Mississippi River, which experiences flooding, in addition to its house in North Louisiana, which is liable to hurricanes.
To deal with these issues, the venture crew determined to design the brand new CUP with tools grouped collectively logically on the 4 flooring. In addition they put in an elevator to offer workers with simpler entry to the completely different flooring. “It’s a small factor, however it actually made a distinction to the employees,” he says.
The mills are positioned on the best flooring to maintain them out of areas that would probably flood; the third flooring homes chiller tools; and boilers and water tools are on the second stage. The primary flooring is designed as a contamination space for a mass occasion. The house will be cleaned and washed out with out impacting CUP tools or hospital operations, Rea says.
For extra on the Kids’s Hospital of New Orleans modernization venture, try the article, “The Right Note,” in Healthcare Design’s December situation.
Anne DiNardo is government editor at Healthcare Design journal. She will be reached at anne.dinardo@emeraldx.com.
