ST. LOUIS — Designs are under state review on the new Frank R. Howard Memorial Hospital in Willits, Calif. to replace the original 80-year-old facility, which failed to meet the state’s seismic standards and the hospital’s growing space needs.
Named for the son of Charles Howard, owner of the famed racehorse Seabiscuit, the hospital was first built after Howard’s 15-year-old son Frank R. Howard was severely injured in an automobile accident but could not be treated due to the lack of a proper facility nearby. Howard created the Frank R. Howard Foundation to donate $30,000 for the construction of the original 25-bed hospital.
After a recent evaluation of the facility for upgrades, the foundation’s Board of Directors agreed a retrofit would interrupt necessary services and would not address the space shortage.
Drawings for the project are currently in the second round of review with the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, who will issue a building permit once the review is complete.
The Planning and Development office is required by the state to review all new hospital plans to ensure they meet all special building code requirements.
Adventist Health came to an agreement with the Frank R. Howard Foundation in February 2010 to builld and lease the new $61.2 million hospital. The company hired St. Louis-based HBE Corp. to provide the architecture, engineering services, construction and site work on the project, which will be located on a new site about a mile away from the existing campus.
Future plans for the existing campus have not been determined yet, according to hospital staff.
Designs for the 75,000-square-foot, two-story hospital include an emergency room with eight exam and treatment rooms, four intensive care beds, laboratory, general stores, and helipad.
Additionally, the facility will feature a 21-bed medical and surgical unit, an endoscopy room, chapel, main entrance canopy, surgical suite with four operating rooms, physical therapy room, pharmacy, kitchen, dining area, administration offices and 10 pre- and post-operation beds.
The project is expected to be completed in March 2014.
A statement from HBE said the firm’s design-build model offers cost savings to Adventist due to its “superior design, guaranteed lump sum contract and single-source, design-build method that eliminates redundant functions, reduces fees and utilizes a standardized overall planning and building process.”
HBE — which has built more than 1,000 hospitals throughout the country, develops all of the preliminary work for a project at its own risk, with no charge to the client and no obligation till a comprehensive plan and fixed cost have been set.
