Many moving parts at hospital building site

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Construction is on schedule for Jefferson Healthcare's new 50,000-square-foot Emergency and Specialty Services Building (ESSB), to open in September, according to Dick Bratton, project manager.

It's a beehive of activity at the Port Townsend site, with 60 people working in various trades: electrical contracting, mechanical contracting (plumbing and HVAC), exterior envelope contracting, roofing, interior partitioning and some civil work, including earthwork and exterior concrete.

"It's an orchestration of a symphony," Bratton said, but instead of strings and drums and wind instruments playing in concert, it's steel and concrete and other construction materials being manipulated in harmony.

"Makes the same kind of music, nice to listen to. Bang, bang, clang, clang," Bratton joked.

The structural steel weighs about 400 tons, and the project has moment frames, which are beams and columns joined by a combination of welding and bolting, designed to withstand strong winds or earthquakes.

Construction is coordinated by general contractor Aldrich and Associates, based in Bothell. Dave Berg is construction superintendent. Bratton's role is overseeing schedules and budget control, representing the owner and ensuring timely completion of a quality building.

"Schedules are being monitored weekly and monthly," he said, and are influenced by myriad factors, including weather and availability of materials.

"The Puget Sound area is encountering the most aggressive and busy construction season in several decades," he said. "It's a coordination and timing issue."

The crane used to place the enormous steel beams, for example, was rented by the hour, plus there were the wages of the crane operator. Contractors coordinated deliveries of steel, being trucked over by road and ferry from "the northern Interstate 5" area, to minimize downtime for that expensive crane.

A challenge has been "tying the new building into existing structures where historical and archived design information was not readily available," he said. "So we had to do some significant research and onsite reconnaissance."

There was "a significant amount of site work, especially on the south side," which links to the old buildings. Construction of a large retaining wall along Sheridan Street has been impacted by the wet winter. "Moving dirt when it's wet is more difficult," Bratton noted.

During construction, several hospital offices were closed, and staff is "anxious" to see the project completed, said Kate Burke, Jefferson Healthcare marketing director.

"We've had to move people around ... some moved off campus, some doubled up," she said. "Storage is a tough one," as some former storage areas are now being used as offices during construction.

Noise mitigation is one of the requirements for contractors, and "this project has gone very smoothly from the standpoint of protecting the existing hospital," in terms of "infection control" – keeping dirt and dust out of the hospital, and preventing "excessive amounts of standing water ... where little varmints may fester."

The Jefferson Healthcare cafeteria has returned to campus after using Port Townsend School District kitchens since last summer.

TECHNOLOGY

Bratton noted that while hospital equipment sees rapidly evolving technology, some basic construction materials are on a slower track of improved performance and effectiveness. Steel and concrete haven't changed significantly over the decades, although "HVAC motors, and electrical components and transformers are improved on a consistent basis," and "the technology of the envelope" is probably the most dramatically different. "Building-envelope integrity is improved over the last 10 years," he said, with weather and air barriers for "low risk of water penetration in the exterior."

Exterior walls are precast concrete, masonry, curtain wall and insulated metal panels, plus some windows.

"We're in the final throes of fine-tuning design elements," Bratton said. "When you go through the construction process, you're reviewing various shop drawings and components of the building ... you look for opportunities to enhance or perhaps change things."

Bratton has been involved with the project for "27 or 28 months," initially as a facilitator between the hospital and the design team, to help coordinate the design and the scope of the work and the program determined by the hospital departments' needs. The design began with area allocations for certain departments, he said. "Then you figure out the circulations between departments." The "traffic flow" between departments is important not only for the public to be able to navigate the hospital, but also for inter-department exchanges.

NEW ENTRANCE

The ESSB, designed by architects with Seattle’s CollinsWoerman firm, was a challenge, design-wise, for "traffic flow within the hospital," Bratton said.

The ESSB project included removing the 12,800-square-foot 1929 building. Jefferson Healthcare is a hodgepodge of buildings, which staff often refers to by date of construction – the 1988 building, housing the cafeteria; the 1965 building, where the emergency department is; and the 1995 building, on the water side, with inpatient services and the curving facade above the current main entrance. The main entrance shifts to the new building when it's done.

"The entrance will be more intuitive," Burke said.

The entirety of the new building is slated for outpatient services, improving and increasing space for those departments. The second level is to house cardiology and orthopedics, and the third, oncology. On the roof, a "penthouse" provides screening for mechanical HVAC units as well as space for signage. The emergency room and blood-draw lab are going to have "green" roofs of living vegetation; the sedum plants provide an aesthetic value for people inside looking out.

On the new building's main floor, the Emergency Services Department is on the north – the same side of the hospital that it's on now. The new main entrance and lobby are to be on the south (Manresa Castle) side, closest to Seventh Street, with a blood-draw lab on the southwest corner, and a large, multipurpose conference room on the northwest corner. The new parking lot off Seventh Street, which formerly had a slope, will be level, which helps patients with mobility issues, Burke said. An ADA ramp and staircase also provide access from Sheridan Street.

The former emergency department is being remodeled to house respiratory therapy, Burke said.

The 50,000-square-foot ESSB is scheduled for completion by the end of August, with anticipated occupation in September. The next phase involves interior remodeling of existing spaces in the 1988 building, scheduled for completion in late December 2016.

The USDA is providing $15 million of the more than $20 million project. For more information, visit jeffersonhealthcare.org.