IMEG provided engineering design and services for Mercy Hospital Springfield’s new heart hospital. The design included renovating 120,000-sf of existing hospital space and adding 18,600-sf. Approximately 31,000-sf of the renovated space will house seven cath labs, a hybrid cath lab, hybrid OR, and four cardiac OR’s. The project’s new space will house nuclear medicine, inpatient and outpatient clinics, a three-story entry lantern, and a new 5,900-sf mechanical penthouse.

Part of the cath lab and OR space will be located within the existing space serving cafeteria/dietary services, which is being relocated in a separate, 38,000-sf renovation project. The dietary services will be moved from the center of the hospital to the southwest front side of the building. This renovation will add a two-stop elevator, upgrades to three eight-story elevators and a two-stop freight elevator, new natural gas service, new 3,500-gallon grease interceptor, two new AHUs located in two new mechanical rooms, and new electrical and technology rooms.

One of two new air handling units added as part of the relocated dietary department will serve part of the heart hospital area; an additional new air handling unit was added to serve the new cath lab and OR space. Several new electrical rooms (including a new 500 KVA centralized uninterruptable power supply system), systems rooms, and technology rooms were added, and the main electrical distribution room was relocated for better floorplan functionality. The nurse call system, routed through this room, was determined to be outdated and will be replaced.

Challenges included four different existing building additions, limited existing ceiling plenum space, multiple phases of construction, and overlap with multiple smaller departmental relocation projects. Engineers worked closely with the owner, architect, and construction manager to maximize coordination to solve the challenges, meet the budget, and provide a design that meets current needs with flexibility for the future.