The Women's Hospital — Evansville, Ind.

Development Team
OWNER: Deaconess Hospital, Evansville, Ind.
GENERAL CONTRACTOR: Industrial Contractors Inc., Evansville, Ind.
ELECTRICAL: Mel-Kay Electric, Evansville, Ind.
PIPING: Goebel Mechanical, Evansville, Ind.
MASON: Bartley & Perigo Masonry, Evansville, Ind.
GYPSUM BOARD ASSEMBLIES AND ACOUSTICS: Danco Construction, Evansville, Ind.

The Women's Hospital is a full-service hospital designed to meet the medical and wellness needs of women and newborns.

The hospital is a four-story building composed of structural steel with a skin of cast stone. Set on a 22-acre site, the structure comprises 174,292 sq. ft. of interior space attached to a new Medical Office Building, and both are supported by an Energy Center.

The ground floor is a 30-bed hospital. It consists of rooms for labor, delivery, recovery, operations, prenatal intensive care, nursery and nutrition. The second floor holds exam rooms and physician offices, and the third floor houses the Breast Center and additional medical support offices. The fourth floor is dedicated to mechanical systems.

Medical Space Challenges

Several significant construction challenges were encountered.

One was the installation of the mechanical and electrical systems above ceilings. Coordination meetings between the contractors and engineers were held to fit the systems into the allotted space. At times each trade installed its system separately and in layers so everything could fit.

The installation of the glass was another challenge. Deliveries were delayed because the sapphire blue material was available from only one manufacturer that made no guarantees. Indeed, the manufacturer in question was brought in for a meeting.

Temporary windows were installed over the aluminum framing to close in the building. This occurred during one of the coldest winters in years.
The last piece of glass arrived a week before hospital opening.

Coordination was required to start up the hospital's multiple systems. Operations from the existing hospital had to shut down and be relocated without affecting the delivery of care.

The new facility started on line and with the necessary approval from the state's Board of Health.

The project was completed on time and on budget. It required 180,000 man-hours of work from Evansville, Ind.-based Industrial Contractors Inc., the general contractor, and additional 140,000 man-hours of work from the subcontractors.

The jury said, "The construction coordination was complex on this job. They produced a good-looking building. Liked the use of columns."

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