July 2015
Barnabas Health, RWJ Health System to Merge
WEST ORANGE, N.J. — Barnabas Health and Robert Wood Johnson (RWJ) Health System, two leading health systems in New Jersey, have agreed to merge, creating the state’s largest health system and one of the largest in the nation.
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Opens Buerger Center
PHILADELPHIA — The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) opened the doors at the new Buerger Center for Advanced Pediatric Care on July 27.
Bill to Ban VA Hospital Construction Moves Forward
WASHINGTON — A bill to strip the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from managing construction projects more than $100 million cleared a legislative hurdle on July 22. The bill passed the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Health on a unanimous voice vote.
The bill, HR. 3106, the Construction Reform Act of 2015, strips the VA of all construction management authority on projects more than $100 million and transfers it to non-VA federal entities, such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers or the General Services Administration (GSA).
Mercy Health Muskegon Submits New Consolidation Plan
MUSKEGON, Mich. — Mercy Health Muskegon in Michigan has announced a timeline for the nine-story consolidation project to bring Hackley Health System and Mercy Health Partners onto one campus after the companies merged in 2008.
Daniel Becker
HGA Architects and Engineers (HGA) hired Daniel Becker, AIA, ACHA, LEED AP, as associate vice president and senior project manager for the health care practice group in Milwaukee. He will manage team processes and client relations for health care projects nationally and regionally. Becker has more than 30 years’ health care architecture experience. He currently is working on projects for St. Elizabeth Healthcare in Kentucky and ThedaCare in Wisconsin.
UF Health Shands Children’s Hospital Will Expand
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — University of Florida (UF) Health Shands Children’s Hospital in Gainesville confirmed it will be undergoing an expansion to grow the number of beds that can accommodate the hospital’s tiniest, most vulnerable patients.
AIA Names Winners of National Healthcare Design Awards
WASHINGTON —The Washington, D.C.-based American Institute of Architects Academy of Architecture for Health (AAH) has selected the recipients of the AIA National Healthcare Design Awards program.
U.S. News & World Report Reveals Best Hospitals
WASHINGTON — U.S. News & World Report unveiled this year’s best hospitals ranking on July 21. It’s the 26th edition of the Best Hospitals.
Designed to help patients with life-threatening or rare conditions identify hospitals that excel in treating the most difficult cases, Best Hospitals includes data and information on nearly 5,000 medical centers nationwide.
Missouri Orthopeadic Institute Begins Expansion
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Construction is under way for a four-story expansion of the Missouri Orthopeaedic Institute, according to the University of Missouri Health Care based in Columbia.
Opened in 2010, the Missouri Orthopaedic Institute at 1100 Virginia Ave. is the largest freestanding orthopaedic care center in central Missouri.