E4H Leads EMMC Design Modernization

E4H – MorrisSwitzer Environments for Health, announced details about its ongoing architectural projects which are facilitating the modernization of Eastern Maine Medical Center (EMMC), the flagship medical center for Eastern Maine Health System.

The EMMC modernization project is focused on creating opportunities for the Bangor-based hospital to adapt to emerging technology and modern procedures while accommodating increased demand on a limited footprint. In early June EMMC opened its new main entrance (the Penobscot Pavilion,) a NICU, and cardiac care unit.

“Eastern Maine residents and hospital staff will see some major enhancements to the facility including a 361,000-square foot patient tower,” said Dan Morris, Partner, E4H. “This project incorporates the latest advances in evidence-based design. Views of nature, natural light, decentralized nurses’ stations, adaptable-acuity single patient rooms, patient lifts, and respite areas for patient families and staff are all incorporated into the design of the new tower.”

With expansive views of the adjacent Penobscot River, the tower will support a new main lobby, cafe, heart and vascular care space, surgical suite, NICU, two floors of private patient rooms, and a newly renovated labor and delivery center.

The private rooms are designed to meet the needs of a wide range of patients, and provide a warm and relaxing atmosphere for healing by surrounding the patient with organic textures and ample natural light.

The 29 single-bassinet rooms in the new NICU are designed to accommodate around-the-clock care for EMMC’s most vulnerable patients. The NICU, 25 postpartum rooms, 32 inpatient telemetry rooms, and the 24-bed critical care unit all feature rooming-in accommodations for families, improving patient outcomes by enhancing the family’s role in the healing process.

The new facility will also include 14 operating rooms with pre-op and PACU, as well as a new sterile processing department. Two of the new operating rooms will be hybrid ORs equipped with advanced medical imaging devices, enabling minimally invasive surgery. The design of these areas focused intensely on infection control, taking into account the carefully orchestrated workflow of the surgeons and staff, as well as creating a separate, dedicated sterile pathway for supplies and instruments. The spaces are connected to the existing ambulatory surgery department, creating one of the largest, most comprehensive surgery centers in the state.

The patient tower is being constructed by a construction management joint venture between Cianbro Corp.(Pittsfield, Maine) and Brasfield & Gorrie (Birmingham, Ala.) and will open in 2017.