Hospital Expansion: A Healthy Vision

Part 1: Texas Children's Hospital Takes on $1.5 Billion Expansion

Part 2: Building Addition, Remote Campus Headline Hospital Expansion

Part 3: Hospital Expansion: Efficient Equipment Neutralizes Higher Energy Costs

Part 4: Automating Operations: Hospital Upgrades Building-Automation System, CMMS

Texas Children's Hospital Takes on $1.5 Billion Expansion

By Chris Matt, Managing Editor - Print & E-Media - December 2009

Organizations that undertake substantial renovation or construction projects to supplement an existing, state-of-the-art building portfolio always work to ensure the rigors of the development do not affect operations or occupants. But when those projects take place in a health care environment, that focus becomes even more critical.

The challenge of melding existing operations with construction projects has not impeded the unprecedented Vision 2010 expansion by Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston. Already one of the most recognized pediatric centers in the country, the 55-year-old hospital is in the midst of a $1.5 billion expansion — the largest expansion ever by a single children’s hospital within a four-year period. The expansion features two new facilities, one building addition, and the construction of a remote campus the hospital will build in three phases. The expansion coincides with a renewed focus on energy efficiency in the hospital’s mechanical and electrical systems, as well as the formation of an energy management business unit. The four-person unit analyzes the way the hospital uses energy and compiles plans to make facility operations and maintenance practices more efficient.

“The primary purpose of the hospital is to provide the best pediatric health care for children,” says Skip Milton, the hospital’s assistant director of facilities operations, energy, maintenance and operations. “When I try to save a dollar, it cannot in any way impact patient care. The only impacts we can have on patient care must be positive.”