Boston Suburb Welcomes New Outpatient Medical Facility

By Eric Althoff

NEEDHAM, Mass.—Construction manager and general contractor BOND, based in the greater Boston area, has announced completion of the Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital–Needham Outpatient Clinical Center (BIDH-Needham), located approximately 20 miles to the west of the Massachusetts capital.

While Boston itself has an abundance of healthcare providers and facilities, part of the reason for the BIDH–Needham campus expansion was to bring more of that top-notch care to the suburbs. BIDH–Needham’s expansion consisted of 37,000 square feet of outpatient medical space spread out over four floors. The new Clinical Center entails facilities for gastroenterology, cardiology and orthopedic care on an outpatient basis.

While not having to deal with a dense urban environment, as would be the case in Boston, the suburban site nonetheless presented challenges to the BOND team when it came to the build-out of the facility. Among the jobsite logistics to be addressed during construction were limited parking, which necessitated ferrying in employees and equipment from offsite facilities. Furthermore, the construction crew had to abide by strict noise ordinances and thus work only within certain hours, as well as abide by the wishes of neighbors that the new facade appear fully integrated into the neighborhood’s existing New England aesthetic.

BOND’s solutions to building out a project of this scale in a neighborhood entailed what it called innovative safety, parking and noise-abatement procedures so as not to interrupt the day-to-day lives of patients, staff and neighbors. Furthermore, BOND fashioned what it called a “microsite” to provide logistics on the ongoing construction progress to members of the surrounding community and staff of the medical facilities—such as when a crane would be needed on the site or when especially noisy work would be happening. BOND also made use of Lean practices to minimize waste.

“BOND is proud to be part of this momentous occasion,” Michael Walsh, vice president for healthcare and life sciences at BOND, said at the BIDH–Needham grand opening earlier this year. “This is an important addition to the Needham campus.”

BOND’s work on BIDH–Needham included preconstruction and construction management for the four-story building that sits at 148 Chestnut Street in Needham. BOND’s partners on the project included JACA Architects and engineering firms Bard Rao + Athanas and Nitsch Engineering.

The new Outpatient Clinical Center marks the third collaboration between BOND and JACA Architects over the past decade. The two firms also worked together in 2014 on the BIDH–Needham campus Cancer Center and Surgical Building in 2014, and on the campus’s BreastCare Center in 2016.

“Our long-standing relationship with BIDH–Needham has given us the opportunity to work with Beth Israel’s administrative team on this modern new building that will improve patient access and meet the rising demand for care in the community,” added Walsh.