VHC Health – Virginia Hospital Center 4A Inpatient Renovation

E4H planned and designed the first inpatient bed expansion at Virginia Hospital Center since 2004. The multi-phased project will convert existing medical offices on floors 3 and 4 into state-of-the-art inpatient units, with private patient rooms that are 60% larger than other units and 30% larger than standard patient rooms.

Phase 1 renovated 17,300 square feet on the 4th floor and was completed in August 2020. Patient Unit 4a includes 21 private patient rooms with sound masking through high-performance acoustical design, efficient lighting, and a modern aesthetic with clean lines, crisp colors, and ample natural light. Patient rooms feature touchless technology to mitigate infection rates, anti-bacterial and easily cleaned finishes, and fully exhausted “Anti Infection Isolation design.

Construction was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the A/E team quickly responded to the growing health crisis with changes to unit’s HVAC system. This involved a modification to damper off ductwork, add new exhaust fans, and modify control systems to improve ventilation. Architectural design changes include alcoves outside patient rooms with ample space for donning PPE, gasketed pass-through cabinets, and strategically placed handwash stations throughout.

Lean design methods were implemented from the outset to ensure efficient project delivery, minimize change orders during construction, and ultimately allowed the design team to deliver the project well under the original budget projection.

This project involved the conversion of the existing 3rd and 4th Floors of their newest patient tower addition (2004), currently used as medical offices, to new inpatient beds units. Each floor is approximately 34,000 square feet and will be divided into two separate patient units, each consisting of 21-22 beds (43 total per floor).

Overall Phasing approach established three primary phases with Phase One being the conversion of 4A, Phase 2 as 4B and finally Phase Three as the entirety of the 3rd Floor. The 3rd and 4th Floors are approximately 30% larger than Floors 5-8 above, also currently inpatient nursing units, and proved to be necessary when incorporating current day standards and guidelines for both Patient and Staff program.

Phase One, 4A Patient Unit, of 17,300 square feet includes 21 new Medical/Surgical inpatient rooms, staff support spaces and two central nurse stations and offices. With a larger floorplate than the existing patient units above, it was important to maintain physical and visual connectivity between the two nurse stations and patient rooms on either side of the unit. This was successfully achieved by including interior staff circulation and a core with wall partition layout and interior windows strategically designed.

Another major area of focus was on improving their current patient room design. A patient room mockup built out of cardboard with actual fixtures and equipment installed allowed the design team to visualize the room and make adjustments early. Especially the headwall design and integrated millwork footwall design benefitted from this process and the cardboard allowed for quick and inexpensive changes.