Building 500 Patient Care Center
Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, CA
The Patient Education Center includes conference rooms, of which one is theater style with tiered platform seating and opens to the simulation laboratory. The simulation lab includes a fully outfitted operating room, an intensive care patient room with a nurses’ station and a patient counseling room. Each of these rooms are outfitted as fully functioning areas with complete medical lighting, gasses, vacuum, and pressurized air to run tools for cutting casts and bones. These rooms have a viewing wall that faces a debriefing/observation room. The operating room can be utilized as a fully equipped operating room in times of emergency.
To accomplish the renovations to the existing basement area, we segregated the entire area from the rest of the hospital. All air into the area was sealed off, temporary air-tight partitions were erected, and the entire area was put under negative air pressure. Construction dust was not allowed to leave the area and contaminate other areas of the hospital. All workers were provided a single separate entrance to the outside of the building to assure that contaminants did not enter the fully operating hospital.
Work was planned with all of the subcontractors to assure that noise was minimized. This was especially important with so many trades working in this sectioned off area while assuring that the occupants of the fully functioning hospital were not disturbed. Some work was required to be performed after hours to minimize noise and vibration to the hospital. Utility cutovers and tie-ins were required to be coordinated with numerous hospital staff to minimize disruption to critical service.
With all of these protections in place, MZT completed the job on time and on budget without disturbing the other hospital occupants or disrupting the workflow of the hospital itself.