Acute Care

Reno Hospital Expansion A Complex Operation

By Tony Illia

The Renown Regional Medical Center is undergoing a $318 million expansion. It is projected to add another 60 years on to the Reno hospital's lifespan.

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Reno's oldest hospital, with roots stretching back to the Civil War-era, is undergoing a $318 million, 192-private-bed addition. Renown Regional Medical Center, formerly known as Washoe Medical Center, is situated on 41 acres at 1155 Mill Street in the heart of Reno. The facility originally was formed in 1864 during the Comstock Lode silver boom in nearby Virginia City to treat smallpox victims. Today it serves roughly 540 patients a day needing a variety of medical treatments.

"The expansion will enable the hospital to handle a seven to 15% increase in patient volume," said Newton Chase, Renown's director of facilities. "We're anticipating a 60-year lifespan for the new building."

The project consists of a 10-story tower and adjoining seven-level, 1,690-space parking structure. Sparks-based Clark & Sullivan Constructors Inc. and Sellen Construction Co. of Seattle are the project's general contractors.

The two have a 50/50 joint-venture partnership, with Sellen as managing partner. Construction is expected to run $250 million, with the remaining cost going toward medical equipment, design fees and soft development costs.

Designed by Omaha, Neb.-based HDR, the 285-ft tall building has a steel momentum frame with a glass, EIFS and aluminum panelized exterior. It rests atop a concrete slab foundation with a basement for back of house services, including laundry, utilities and equipment sterilization. The 515,000-sq-ft building is supported by structural columns on a 29-ft grid with three concrete shear walls and concrete over metal decking floors. Seattle-based PCS Structural Solutions is the structural engineer. The design is intended for rapid future additions and renovations, with air ducts running on the outside of the building. The tower shelled the fifth and ninth floors, enabling another 76 patient beds as needed.

"You pay about a 5% premium for the steel momentum frame, but we don't have bracing in the way for future expansions allowing us to move quickly," said Chase.

The building will feature 18 operating and 39 emergency examination rooms, plus an MRI area, a cardiac cathode laboratory and a 64-slice CT scanner. It will be serviced by a 13,000-sq-ft central plant that makes up to 25 air changes an hour in the operation rooms for a bacteria-free setting. The new tower will house roughly $48 million worth of state-of-the-art medical equipment, not including two helipads atop the roof for air flight patients.

The roof had to be stiffened to withstand the vibration from a fully loaded helicopter, and the helipads will have a 10,500-lb weight limit.

Most patients will check in via one of the hospital's six new entrances. The main canopy entry leads into a new double-height grand lobby with terrazzo marble and carpet flooring, hardwood paneling and accent lighting. It will have large glass windows, an aquarium and kid's electronic gaming station. The lobby will be framed by a 30,000-sq-ft, lushly landscaped "healing garden".

"We created a park that provides a calming scene from the lobby with trees, exotic plants and water features," said Bob Counter, HDR's project manager.

"It brings the outdoors inside for a warm feeling that's less institutional, making it an interesting place to see and be seen in."

The lobby and garden are conceived as dual use areas for parties, book fairs and public events. The furniture is comfortable, more in line with a living room than a hospital, with plush upholstered chairs and stylish end tables. The space shuns traditional fluorescent lights, which can be glaring and cold, in favor of indirect, filtered and natural daylight for a unique setting. Nursing stations are centralized to minimize noise, while earth tone colors reflect Nevada's native environment.

The building's exterior has horizontal bands that give it a sense of direction while minimizing its size. It additionally has signature translucent backlit panels wrapping around the eastside lower level. The architecture takes its cue from Reno's downtown resort casinos rather than medical facilities, making it inviting and attractive as well as less intimidating, according to Counter.

The new tower abuts to the east of Renown's existing facility, and will connect to a new 72-ft tall cast-in-place post-tensioned parking garage. The tight work area meant careful work phasing and planning, plus the use of a 232-ton, 300-ft tall crawler crane.

"We've worked with the hospital to notify them of any impact on the existing facility," said Jarrett Rosenau, Clark & Sullivan's project manager. "We will have 600 people on site during the peak of construction activity."

As work nears completion, the joint-venture team will face one of its stiffest challenges - connecting the two facilities. The new tower must unite with the existing hospital without disrupting air, electrical and other vital services. It's a tricky feat considering there are limited shutdowns, and the two facilities use different systems.

"We've been working at the hospital over the past 15 years on various projects," Rosenau said. "So fortunately we have a familiarity that helps with the process."


The 33-month project is currently on track to finish in September. Renown Health, the hospital's locally-based owner, operates as a private, not-for-profit organization serving a 17-county region with a population over 750,000.




Key Players
Owner: Renown Health
General Contractor: Clark & Sullivan Constructors/Sellen Construction Co.
Architect: HDR Architecture
Engineers: PCS Structural Solutions;
University Mechanical Contractors; CFA Design
Electrical: Nelson Electric Co.
Mechanical: Applied Mechanical; Savage & Son, Inc.
Fire Protection: Desert Fire Protection





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