WILMINGTON, Del. — Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children broke ground in August on a $260 million expansion project at its Delaware campus.
The project features a five-story, 144-bed, 425,000-square-foot patient tower that brings the hospital’s bed count from 200 to 260. It will connect back to the existing facility with a three-story connecting link. The expansion will help the hospital advance its Delaware state trauma designation from Level I to Level II.
The design incorporates 24-bed patient care communities, each with a team station. Three eight-patient neighborhoods are also part of the plan. The new facility allows most of its patients to occupy private rooms, each of which provides outside views, a computer for patient documentation, two televisions, refrigerators, closets, and showers for patient and family use. Each unit will have a serenity room, playroom, conference room and family room.
“Nemours sought to put the family first,” said Michael Shirley, senior project designer, FKP Architects. “The hospital’s Family and Youth Advisory Councils have been involved throughout the planning process to help provide feedback, review plans and create designs that anticipate and respond to the unique needs of the children and families Nemours serves. New construction and renovations will pair patient- and family-friendly design with the best of modern technology in the health care environment. Facility design and many of the new amenities respond to requests from patients and families, including private rooms, improved accessibility and navigation, more family space, and extended services including cafeteria and concierge.”
Amenities for medical personnel and caregivers will include a new emergency room that increases capacity from 29 to 44 bays; a conference room on every unit; alcoves for wheelchairs, linens and portable x-ray; separate elevators for patient care and visitors; and access to an electronic health record system. Overnight sleeping accommodations for residents will also be provided on all units.
Dining facilities, an atrium and retail outlets are in the plans. A helipad on top of the existing building and a 188-space ground-level parking garage below the new addition are also project components.
Nemours is pursuing LEED-certification for the new building. To this end, the building form is driven by daylight harvest to maximize light penetration into the building and at least 40 percent of products used in construction will be sustainable materials, says Shirley. Optimum water efficiency — including storm water irrigation and water use reduction —is targeted, and the project will comprise highly energy efficient mechanical systems.
The patient tower is Phase 1 of Nemours’ plan.
“The three-year project also entails major redesign and renovations to the existing hospital that will provide a more comfortable, efficient and easy-to-navigate facility with expanded outpatient and support services. Patients will benefit from redesigned floor plans that place specialized services near the units that use them,” said Shirley.
Additional plans for Nemours likely include expanding its reach into Pennsylvania and New Jersey. It already has a strong presence in the region through a multi-specialty care center in Newtown Square, Pa.; a children’s clinic in Voorhees, N.J.; and affiliations with Thomas Jefferson University, Jefferson Health System and AtlantiCare in South Jersey. About 12 percent of the medical center’s patients come from Chester County, Pa., and about 10 percent come from Delaware County, Pa.
Funding for the expansion project comes through a combination of hospital funds, donations and grants. The hospital last year received a $350,000 federal grant to support a new pediatric intensive care unit. The DuPont Co. donated $2.5 million towards the project and AstraZeneca contributed 41 million.
Houston-based FKP Architects designed the project, which is slated for completion in fall 2013 and expects to open for patients in early 2014.
Skanska USA’s Greater Philadelphia office in June announced it garnered a $215 million contract for the addition. The construction giant is wrapping up the Nemours Children’s Hospital in Orlando, Fla. for the same client: Christiana Care. Skanska is an international construction company based in Sweden and Skanska USA has about 7,400 employees.
In addition to FKP and Skanska, companies involved with the project include: Affiliated Engineers Inc. — Mechanical, Electrical & Plumbing; Vandemark & Lynch Inc. — Civil Engineer; Haynes Whaley Associates Inc. — Structural Engineer; Rolf Jensen & Associates Inc. — Life Safety; and Rodney Robinson Landscape Architects — Landscape.
The Nemours/Alfred I. DuPont Hospital is a full service, acute care children’s hospital serving more than 300,000 children annually across more than 30 specialty areas.
It first opened in 1940, when it primarily treated children with orthopedic and related illnesses.