Trustees hear from second round of architects

By Anne Blankenship — Daily Freeman-Journal Staff Writer
Two more architectural firms presented proposals for the design of a new hospital facility to the Hamilton Hospital board of trustees Tuesday night.

Representatives of Pope and Associates, Inc., and HDR, both with offices in St. Paul, Minn., gave presentations on the services, skills and expertise each firm could bring to the building project. Tuesday's meeting was the second of three to be held this week. The final meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, beginning at 6:30 p.m. with Horty Elving and Associates of Minneapolis and Accord Architecture of Mason City to meet with the board.

Pope and Associates' Tom Kuck, who would serve as the lead architect on the project, said the hospital would see a customized team working on the project.

"We would take a holistic approach to the project from the architects to interior design, demographics and volume analysis, to IT design. I think we're unique in the way we go about developing the image for the project, involving all the stakeholders, including community input," he commented.

Kuck added that four members of the project team had many years of clinical experience as nurses or healthcare administrators. The team has experience in creating a facilities that will operate efficiently and completing the building project on time and on budget.

Pope and Associates displayed photos and drawings from many hospital and healthcare projects they had developed in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Mary Gorman, a medical planner with Pope and Associates, stressed that the pre-design phase would require a cultural change by the hospital staff.

"Unless we talk about culture, the work-arounds in this building, will be the work-arounds you face in the new building. We have to think of the new cultural way you'll operate. This is the period of time to have the best opportunity to think about how to operate in the new facility and how to create spaces that respond to the needs of the families you serve," she commented.

She outlined several examples of how to save staff time and effort simply by the positioning of the rooms in conjunction to the nursing stations. In one example, a new efficient design allowed nursing staff at one hospital to cut the number of feet traveled in caring for a patient from 854 to 150.

"Decisions made now will have a big financial impact and could help you save costs in the future," she said.

Gorman recommended having the Pope and Associates team look at zip code studies to see exactly who is using the hospital, and where other patients are going for care.

"This study will show us who is coming in the door and who is going to other hospitals. The study can give us a good look at your demographics and a view of the future that could possibly help in staff recruitment."

Kuck said the team had visited the hospital's 27-acre site east of the courthouse and jail.

"That's a great site and about 10 acres will be needed for this project, leaving about 17 acres for future expansions or the addition of a long-term care or assisted living facility, clinic space or whatever you choose to do," Kuck said.

He added that he would recommend orienting the building to the south, with the main doors facing Highway 20. Kuck commented that though the hospital has a tight time frame for the start of the project, he believed the construction could begin before a hard frost develops late in 2008.

Contingencies attached to the $10 million donation from Bob and Mary Van Diest require that construction contracts be signed prior to Dec. 31, with construction to begin within the year.

Jon Pope, owner of the firm, said he believed the firm could develop plans for a building that would be both functional as well as efficient. He said the firm had built five Critical Access replacement hospitals in the past few years.

"As we've said all along in our presentation, we want to be wise stewards of your money," Pope commented. " Our firm is large enough to handle a project of this size, but small enough to care. This project would be our most important project next year."

Representatives of HDR from the firm's St. Paul, Minn. Office said they brought 22 years of experience building strictly healthcare facilities.

"Eighty percent of what we do is in rural Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin," said Jim Jordan. He added that all of the services offered are available from in-house staff, including architectural work, engineering, interior design, campus master plans, and sustainable design.

Modern Healthcare's Construction and Design Survey has ranked HDR as the top design firm for the past five years, Jordan commented.

Jordan outlined several of the project his firm had undertaken in recent years. He said that many were expansions and remodels, but admitted that those projects are getting to be nearly as expensive as replacement hospitals with the costs related to phase building.

Consultant Cyndi McCullough explained that the team would hold several meetings prior to the schematic design phase to gather input from staff, patients and the community. Included in those meetings would be a demand forecast, a look at technology, market share, practice pattens, and a capacity study.

Interior Designer Aleetha McCellen urged the hospital to take a good look at the interior aspects of the project and the current trends in lighting, design, and appealing to the senses.

"We'll look at blurring the lines between hospitality and healthcare. The focus is on the family. We'll look at lighting and ways to bring in natural daylight," she said, adding that the use of natural light can help cut energy costs.

Other members of the team explained that in design meetings with staff, the firm would use computerized drawings that would allow walls or equipment to be moved around, or floor plans to be changed.

"We won't have to go back to the office to draw. We'll be able to print off those drawings before we leave," Jordan said.

If chosen for the hospital's project, Stan Schminke would serve as the project leader. He said preliminary work could begin the first week of April, building up to the Certificate of Need application in July and the CON hearing in September. He estimated that the earliest start date on the construction phase could be in mid to late October.

The HDR representatives suggested that the hospital should be oriented on the property with the main entrance facing Superior Street.

Jordan and his team concluded their presentation by reminding the board that though they are based out of the St. Paul office, the team also works on projects all across the nation.

"We can bring a national perspective to your site. We're 100 percent healthcare, it's all we do," he said.