New Main Hospital Construction Update - November 2009	Wendy's Makes Room for Research III
New MRI Machine	Central Energy Plant Update
A2 Satellite Emergency Clinic	Food Court Renovation
Fence Graphics Improve Area

It has been more than one year since ground was officially broken on the project. 

Click here to watch our building grow from the groundbreaking through last month.

To celebrate the first anniversary, Nationwide Children’s held a pancake breakfast to thank construction workers for all their hard work.

Check out a short video of the celebration breakfast here:
http://www.youtube.com/NationwideChildrens#p/u/0/iTgVUpcxGzM

Inside the building, the last major concrete pour for the 6th floor occurred in mid-October. This “topped out” the concrete frame portion of the building.  Remaining floors of the structure now change to steel.

Check a short video of the final concrete pour here:
http://www.youtube.com/NationwideChildrens#p/u/1/gt5Sg9mOMVs

If you want to leave your mark on the new main hospital, you can sign a steel beam that will be part of the building.  Through mid-November, visit the C-Lobby at the hospital to sign your name and be a part of the new building.

Work continues in the underground tunnels with the addition of more piping. The lower level mechanical room is being constructed and various equipment, piping and ducts are being roughed in. While the upper six floors are constructed, the lower six floors will begin to see other components of the building created.

Outside the building, two hoists will be used to move material up to the various levels of the building. The two tower cranes were actually recently shortened to prepare for heavier steel lifts for the top of the building. Some of the steel columns already placed weight 15 to 20 thousand pounds a piece.

Above: View of the site from the Livingston Garage roof level.	Above: Work continues in the lower level tunnels with special buggies that are motorized to haul concrete around the area – this concrete is most likely planned for an equipment pad.
Above: Reinforcing bars are carefully planned to go thru some of the steel columns prior to concrete being poured.	Above: At the east end of the building, a series of stair landings cantilevering out from the floors are already poured with reinforced concrete.
Above: Views of the two buck hoists recently installed.

Plans are underway for a third research building. Research III will be the first new facility on the hospital’s west campus and is part of Nationwide Children’s ambitious master facilities plan, the largest construction enterprise ever undertaken in central Ohio. Additional research space will help ensure that Columbus is home to the best pediatric health care in the nation.

Construction crews will break ground for Research III in early January 2010, with a planned opening during the third quarter of 2012. This six-floor 225,000-square-foot facility will sit at the corner of Parsons and Livingston Avenue in the space currently occupied by Wendy’s.

A sea of ladders has taken over the new MRI magnet project in order to install the ceiling support system. Above the ceiling, numerous electrical, fiber optic, data, plumbing, sprinkler, heating and cooling components are required to make a magnet glide between rooms and provide a safe environment to perform surgery. Thousands of hours have been spent above the ceiling in preparation for the magnet.

In November, the Siemens MRI magnet (12,000 lbs and equal to six vintage VW Beetles) is scheduled for delivery. One of the second floor C-Building "bubble windows" will be removed to allow for the magnet to be placed in the Surgery Corridor.
 
One of the goals for the design team was to integrate the very high-end technology into the space without placing the surgery team in a foreign environment. The space needs to look and function like a typical OR, while allowing a magnet to be brought into the surgery field to provide more information when moving the patient is not an option.

Above: The entire suite is clad in sheets of copper to keep radio waves and frequency from interfering and affecting the magnet.	Above: The track system on the ceiling will enable the extremely heavy magnet to be moved from room to room.

Beginning in November, we will begin testing the equipment in the new Central Energy Plant. This will include verifying the installation and performance of the various systems, wide variety of components and numerous controls. Outside of the building, the main entrance, ramp and glass vestibule are all taking shape. Utilities are currently being connected to the building and this has finally allowed for a project milestone: the re-opening of the service drive at the Mooberry Staff Garage!

Above: Testing for the boilers will begin in December to verify all components of the system are performing as designed.	Above: Soon the remaining plastic will be removed and all equipment, including the four generators, will be functioning properly. When uncovered, the generators look surprising similar to an engine on a train.
Above: Barb Stewart, the first employee to exit the garage, had the honor of cutting the ribbon.

The increase in patient volumes as a result of the current H1N1 flu situation has challenged many individuals and departments to come up with some additional space to help offload the main Emergency Department. In a matter of three days, many groups pulled together to equip the former GI clinic up on A2.

The Satellite Emergency Clinic's purpose is to provide an area to redirect low acuity patients during high census times from the Urgent Care/Emergency Room. Previously, the Physical Medicine area was used for this purpose, but that space was limited in terms of hours available.

Since opening on September 11, the area has seen anywhere from 20 to 50 patients in an evening and has been open most evenings.

Above: Registration desk	Above: Waiting room in the A2 Satellite Emergency Clinic
Left: Typical exam room

Friends, family and employees of Nationwide Children's Hospital are enjoying the addition of a Mark Pi’s restaurant in the Food Court of the main hospital offering a “lite oriental” menu.

The overall renovations for the food court finished in June.  New tables and chairs have been added and a fun colorful linoleum floor design has been laid along with new lighting giving the area a brighter atmosphere. Outside, a new irrigation system has been installed along with plants and new siding along the planting area.

Above: The new dining room in the Food Court.	Above: Plants and shrubs along the new exterior siding of the Food Court.

Instead of a required metal fence surrounding the construction zone with no mesh to block the dirt traveling through the air, Nationwide Children’s embraced the fence as an opportunity to not only make the site look ‘clean and pretty,’ but to communicate the message that we are care for kids everywhere and for all reasons.

A new, brightly colored and kid-oriented fence was recently installed along Parsons and Livingston Avenues around the construction site for the new main hospital. Featured on the light-weight mesh material are the colorful faces of neighborhood kids, hospital patients, and even some kids of our employees. 

Messages reiterating Nationwide Children’s local and national stance like, “Caring for children throughout the neighborhood. And throughout the nation” and “They come to us from Parsons Avenue. And from Pennsylvania” are interpresed with the photos.

Community input was gathered for the fence project and individual pieces can be replaced as the construction project continues through 2012.

Above: Corner graphics improve construction site.	Above: Graphics include local and national messaging.