University Plans $700M New Hospital Complex

CHICAGO-The University of Chicago Medical Center will break ground next year on its $700 million, 1.2 million-sf new Hospital Pavilion in the Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. The building is being designed with the staff’s technological needs in mind and planning space that will be easily adaptable to future advancements, says Mike Lynch, principal with RTKL Healthcare Technologies Group, which is doing the technology planning for the new facility.

“The epicenter of the technology circulates around the OR,” Lynch says. “Through the integration on this project, it will allow the anesthesiologist in their workroom to see the status of a room to see if the patient has been in, so they can better manage their time. Rather than paper outside the doors, LCD monitors will be outside rooms notifying the staff of the status of the room. It’s all going to be digital and allows for better patient safety and staff utilization, and turnaround of staff. The new facility will allow for the new technology to grow into the future.”

Expected to open in mid-2012, the 10-story building on 57th Street from Drexel to Cottage Grove Avenues will focus its services on cancer, gastrointestinal disease, neuroscience, advanced surgery, and high-technology medical imaging. Building designers Rafael Viñoly Architects are creating the adaptable space by implementing a grid system structure to the building. Each 100,000-sf floorplate is constituted of a series of 102 modular cubes, which can be reconfigured based on future space needs without altering the building frame.