Scaffolding fills the atrium of the Critical Care Tower, which is scheduled to open in November. When construction is complete, skylights will provide inner patient rooms with natural sunlight. (photo by Joe Howell)
Critical Care Tower on track for November debut
Construction of the Critical Care Tower addition to Vanderbilt University Hospital is running on track for a November opening.
Exterior work is complete except for a few finishing touches, and the focus is now on interior finishes, including flooring, casework, paint and installing plumbing, electrical and mechanical fixtures.
Jeff Balser, M.D., Ph.D., center, and members of the Clinical Enterprise Group get an update on the tower during a recent tour. (photo by Joe Howell)
The 10-story, $169 million tower will house 141 acute-care beds and 12 operating suites. Two months ago, walls were punched through at the corners of VUH's South Tower to connect to the Critical Care Tower. Patient rooms will be turned over in phases through June 15 until the connections are completed.
A connection is also being made on the third floor between the operating rooms of the Critical Care Tower and The Vanderbilt Clinic. This work will be completed by September.
Finishes are expected to be complete at the end of July, and then there will be final system checks, bringing this phase of construction to a close on Sept. 21.
“Then Vanderbilt will be able to start stocking the building, training staff and gearing up to open for business in November,” Contractor Doug Bonds said.
But planners thought well beyond the November opening to construct a building that can support medicine's future advances, architect Jim Tenpenny said.
Hospital administrators tour an 1,100-square-foot operating room, designed to accommodate advanced imaging equipment. (photo by Joe Howell)
“A big challenge is to make sure we are not only providing what is needed today but what we might need in 10 years.
“We may not know of all the new stuff that will be available in 10 years, but I know it's going to need more power, more data and more cooling. We have to provide the backbone to support it even though we don't know what it will be,” Tenpenny said.
Plans for the Critical Care Tower have not changed significantly since the economic downturn in late 2008. The original plan called for an immediate renovation in VUH of surgical support areas and spaces vacated by units moving to the Critical Care Tower. Those projects are still in the planning phase.
Floors 7 and 10 of the Critical Care Tower will be shelled for future growth. Floor 2 was originally planned for patient and family amenities, but it will be shelled for now.
“We have several choices for leadership to make, and one of those involves the possibility of surgery waiting as well as other patient amenities. We've given proposals and we're waiting on decisions on funding. We're capable of providing the facility to meet our immediate and long-term needs,” Tenpenny said.
Hallways are nearly double in size, providing space to store carts and other equipment to keep the main pathway clear. (photo by Joe Howell)
“This time of focus on the economy has allowed us to step back and evaluate decisions, make sure we're going in the right direction, doing things for the right reasons and only spending money on things that are a priority for the hospital. So when this thing does turn around, we're a lot better for it. We should be able to do a lot more with less.”