Martha's Vineyard Hospital construction on track
Adjacent to the ramshackle building it will replace, the new Martha's Vineyard Hospital, after years of planning, permitting, and fundraising, is taking shape. The building exterior, to be covered in brick, is now clad in yellow weather seal. The steel framework for the pitched roof that will cover a variety of mechanical equipment has yet to be fully sheathed.
But the building project is on schedule for its February 2010 completion (see an exterior view). "If things keep going the way they are going, we think January is a safe bet," said Connie Bulman, hospital project manager.
Hospital administrators look out the windows of what will become the patient waiting room.
Photos by Ralph Stewart
Mr. Bulman and Tim Walsh, the hospital chief executive, took a group of doctors and a Times reporter for a tour of the unfinished hospital interior on March 27. Only metal studs and wiring set off the dedicated spaces in the cavernous interior, but that did not hobble the doctors in the tour group, as they picked their way around the construction in progress, imagining the spaces where they will work. One week earlier, Mr. Bulman took a group of hospital administrators for a tour.
Walking with plans and drawings (front, first floor, second floor) in hand on Friday, the doctors listened as Mr. Bulman described the layout and the features of the new building.
Physicians who now work in the cramped confines of a wooden building opened in 1974, greeted the prospect of new, more spacious and modern facilities enthusiastically. As the group walked along what will be a corridor in the surgical area, the large windows impressed surgeon Denise Fraser. "The only thing I wanted we got," she said. "Natural light."
CEO Tim Walsh (left) described the space to (left to right) Dr. Steve London, surgeon Dr. Pieter Pil, surgeon Dr. Denise Fraser and hospital chief quality officer Dedie Wieler.
There are two operating rooms and pre- and post-surgical patient recovery rooms. Anesthesiologist Dr. Steve London said he was pleased to see pipes that will supply surgical air, sanitized air used in the operating room. Now, he must bring pressurized tanks into the operating room. "Sometimes I feel like a scuba diver," said Dr. London.
The first floor houses the surgery, radiology, and emergency departments, a laboratory, and the admitting area. There is also room for a small research library and waiting area.
The main hospital entrance opens to an airy foyer set at the base of a tower designed to provide natural light, and it leads to the admitting area. There are separate entrances for the emergency department for walk-in patients and those who arrive by ambulance.
The group walked up the staircase to the second floor. The doctors stepped into the bare frame of one of the patient rooms. A shower and tub sat framed in the corner. "This is what's its all about," said one doctor as he looked out the large window at Vineyard Haven Harbor.
The physical layout of the building is designed to increase staff efficiency, patient comfort and privacy, and is based on a patient-centered health-care system known as the Planetree Model. That philosophy is evident in the emergency department where privacy was a concern.
Dr. Michael Jacobs.
Photo by Nelson Sigelman
The second floor contains 18 private acute care beds, and three intensive care beds. All the bedrooms will be private. "People will never want to leave," said Dr. Mark Shapiro, emergency room physician, as he looked out at the flat roof space that will be used to create a roof garden on the west side of the building.
Approximately 200 photovoltaic panels will be placed on south facing roof surfaces. "At peak that will supply about one-third of our electricity needs," said Mr. Walsh.
The three labor and delivery rooms are also located on the second floor. It includes a nursery with five bassinets and a birthing tub.
As the doctors stepped carefully around door frames and sheetrock Dr. Michael Jacobs, a veteran Island physician in private practice, looked around and said, "This is a real treat."
Asked to elaborate, Dr. Jacobs said that he arrived on Martha's Vineyard in 1976 and opened an office in the then new hospital. "To come back some 33 years later and see a whole new facility, one that is modern and spacious and very well suited to the community, and knowing that I am still around," said Dr. Jacobs. "That is the real treat."
Dr. Jacobs, the owner of Vineyard Medical Services, a walk-in clinic in Vineyard Haven, said he was happy that the old hospital would continue to be used and not torn down. He added, "Look at the staff that they have here. They are very committed and they provided input to the design, which is good."
Input from one of the nursing staff resulted in the relocation of an outlet in a patient room. The original design would have required nurses to lean over a patient's bed. "We got the users involved and found out where they really belong," said Mr. Bulman.
In 2006 the private nonprofit Martha's Vineyard Hospital became an affiliate of Mass General Hospital and its parent organization Partners HealthCare System. Mr. Walsh said that partnership has provided access to a great deal of specialized design expertise.
Anesthesiologist Dr. Steve London and dentist Dr. Casey Pedro discussed the view from the second floor waiting area.
Photo by Nelson Sigelman
In the basement level Mr. Bulman described how water rather than refrigeration coils will provide air conditioning. The system uses variable speed motors that adjust to demand, and the heating and ventilation system will be monitored electronically both locally and by Partners, providing 24/7 coverage he said. Those features translate into energy and cost savings, said Mr. Bulman.
"There is nothing like seeing the tangible product," said Dr. Shapiro as he removed his hard hat. "This is really impressive."
Construction of the new hospital was made possible by a successful fundraising campaign that resulted in outright cash donations and pledges of the needed $42 million. Despite the current economic slowdown, hospital leaders said there has been no retreat on the part of donors who pledged to contribute on a regular schedule.
Sitting in his office following the tour with the doctors, Mr. Walsh said he was very pleased with the reactions. "I think they are really happy and excited," said Mr. Walsh. "We all are. It's going to be a great building."
