Case Study: Elmhurst Memorial Hospital
For years, modular construction has been relatively common in industries such as convenience stores and restaurants. Only recently have modular construction companies translated their offerings into other markets—particularly healthcare.
Modular Design Technology (MDT) was one of the first on the scene to make this translation. And their client, Elmhurst Memorial Hospital, was one of the first in its state to choose modular over traditional construction for its emergency department (ED) addition.
Growth in the need for emergency services is a national trend. In fact, a recent American Healthcare Association study concluded that 62-percent of U.S. hospitals’ emergency departments are at or over capacity. Elmhurst Memorial Hospital is no exception. An expansion of its ED was necessary in order to meet the current demand for services.
The Client
Elmhurst Memorial is a 400-bed hospital located in the Chicago suburb of Elmhurst. The community’s growth led its administration to develop a 5-7 year master facilities plan for constructing a new hospital.
It turns out, 5-7 years is a long way off, and Elmhurst Memorial needed a faster solution to grow with the community’s needs—particularly in its ED. The ED is a critical component of the hospital - approximately 50-percent of patients who are admitted to the hospital come through the ED.
In 2002, Elmhurst Memorial saw 44,222 visits in its ED. The existing department had become antiquated in its layout, and often found its waiting room, and all other available space, filled to capacity.
Elmhurst Memorial’s director of facilities management, Gene Farb, P.E., began researching options for expanding the ED.
Farb’s initial thoughts were to remodel the existing ER. However due to the space constraints and code requirements, simply remodeling would not provide required additional capacity. The ED needed to expand to be the right solution for the hospital and its patients.
After researching the cost and timeframe for traditional construction of an ED addition, Farb took a hard look at modular construction. He had heard modular construction had come a long way from his original perception of temporary trailers. The fact that modular is faster and usually more cost effective specifically grabbed his interest.
Through his research into modular construction, Farb found MDT on the Internet. MDT had completed another ED addition for Raritan Bay Hospital on the East Coast.
Through a series of meetings between MDT, Farb, an architect and general contractor, the team concluded that modular construction was an excellent fit for Elmhurst Memorial Hospital’s ED addition.
Project Overview
In May 2003, Elmhurst Memorial Hospital and MDT embarked on designing, planning and implementing modular construction of the hospital’s ED addition.
This modular construction project was a first for many of the parties involved. Especially in healthcare, new structures must meet all current Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) codes and regulations.
Designs called for a one-story, 3,650 sq. ft. addition, which would add 13 new treatment bays, nearly doubling the ED’s capacity, and the additional treatment rooms that would bring it to 2003 code.
Because this was a modular addition, and a first for many of the parties involved, Elmhurst Memorial’s team collaborated with the IDPH to ensure each regulatory detail was considered and included.
Once the designs were final, the addition’s 10 modules were constructed at an off-site manufacturing facility. They were packaged and loaded on semi trucks for delivery to Elmhurst Memorial.
From concept to completion, the process took just five months—a little longer than the typical 3 months for similar projects. The result of this modular addition: a section of the hospital that one can’t discern from the existing building.
“Because our addition meets all codes, the quality is exactly the same as traditional construction,” said Farb of Elmhurst Memorial Hospital. “Our architect and contractor are now believers in this process as a legitimate form of construction.”
Grand Opening
In October 2003, Elmhurst Memorial Hospital opened the doors to its ED to the public. The addition increased the capacity of the hospital's ED to 54,000 annual visits, which allows the hospital to meet projected need through 2015.
“Even with 20 years experience, I really think modular construction is the wave of the future for healthcare facilities,” said Gene Farb of Elmhurst Memorial Hospital. “This was a first for me, but I’m certain this was the right move for our hospital.”
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