Fort Walton Beach Medical Center
In 2019, Barge Design Solutions acquired Nashville-based Gould Turner Group (GTG). Read full article.
THE CHALLENGE
Barge is assisting HCA with the $80-million Fort Walton Beach Medical Center expansion project. This project is part of the HCA North Florida Division’s estimated impact of over $200 million to the local economy in the Okaloosa/Fort Walton Beach area.
Gould Turner Group (GTG) is assisting HCA with the $80-million expansion and renovation project at Fort Walton Beach Medical Center. This project will allow for increased Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Med-Surg Stepdown, and PACU bed capacity. The expansion will also enhance the hospital’s heart program with dedicated cardiovascular ICU patient rooms, which connect directly to the Surgical Suite. With the Facility’s continued focus on the future, the two-story tower will be designed for vertical expansion to allow for future growth to serve the community.
Normal operations must be maintained throughout the duration of the project. A temporary mobile kitchen will be utilized to maintain food service to patients, staff, and families during the major renovation to the existing kitchen and servery.
THE SOLUTION
This $48 million dollar expansion and renovation will result in a new two-story patient tower with 42 additional beds, additional Post-Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) positions, a new loading dock, expansion to Materials Management, renovation to the medical center’s dining and kitchen area, and a parking garage expansion with 150 new parking spaces. The patient tower is designed for a future two-story vertical expansion.
RESULTS
GTG’s extensive experience in healthcare facility design lends to efficiency in designing innovative and effective layouts for medical staff, patients, and visitors. Fort Walton Beach Medical Center (FWBMC) is designed to be intuitive and easily accessible. By designing these concepts into the facility, the goal is to lessen patient and family anxiety. The new design takes advantage of daylight and views. These are prioritized for use in family waiting areas, lobbies, offices, and most importantly in staff lounges.
Fort Walton Beach Medical Center is designed to be flexible and adaptable to both the current needs and the future needs of the facility. For convenience and visual access to patients, a central nurse station will be incorporated into the design. The nurse stations will have a direct line of sight to all patient rooms and corridor charting stations. The majority of patient rooms are designed to be identical to one another. This maximizes their flexibility of use, contributing to expediency of medical care and less chance for patient error.
A new connector bridge at the second floor level will provide a convenient access from the existing towers to the patient units on the upper floors. This connector will also facilitate the movement of supplies and services at the second floor level.
The project utilizes prefabricated features such as exterior wall panels, patient headwalls, patient toilets, and casework. This method of construction saves the client both time and financial resources, as repetitive elements are built off-site and installed as soon as the construction process will allow.
This project is part of the HCA North Florida Division’s estimated impact of over $200 million to the local economy in the Okaloosa/Fort Walton Beach area. Mitch Mongell, CEO of FWBMC, states, "These projects are part of Fort Walton Beach Medical Center's focus on the future and commitment to improve access to high quality health care and service on behalf of our community."