The Lawrence Group, Memorial Hospital of Carbondale, Carbondale

By ALAN J. ORTBALS
    Memorial Hospital of Carbondale just completed Phase 1 of its 58,600-square-foot expansion/renovation project. Lawrence Group provided architectural and interior design services as well as coordinated mechanical, electrical and structural engineering.
    The project includes the addition of three operating rooms, renovations and additional space for post anesthesia recovery unit, surgical prep area and pre-operative holding, a new cardiovascular Intensive Care Unit, additional private inpatient rooms, modernization of the pharmacy and central sterile processing, and additional space for future expansion of medical/surgical beds.
    According to the hospital administration, the facility has been operating at 90 percent capacity for some time and has actually been turning away patients for lack of room. They are projecting a 40 percent increase in ICU utilization and a 17.5 percent increase in medical/surgical services over the next five years.
    Kim Jungermann, Lawrence Group’s lead architect on the job, said that the entire project has been broken into five phases to minimize the impact on the hospital’s daily operations.
    “Coordinating those phases is a huge challenge,” said Jungermann. “Everybody — the hospital administrator, leadership team, their facilities management team, our architectural team, the contractors — everybody is at the table during all aspects so everybody knows what’s expected, and there are no surprises.”
    The exterior of the addition was designed to match the existing architecture, but the interior was updated with more contemporary finishes. Julie Steffens was the Lawrence Group’s interior designer.
    “We upgraded a lot of the interior finish and used natural materials to give a warm, welcoming feeling,” Steffens said. “We also worked with local artists to bring in photography of multiple subjects to the building.” 
    In addition to Lawrence Group, the project team included: Alberici (construction management); TKH (planning); McClure Engineering (MEP); SSE, Inc. (structural); and Asaturian Eaton and Associates P.C. (civil).