Three-Year Construction at Swedish Complete: E Light Electric Powers the Project to the Finish Line

March 14, 2011 - PRLog -- In 2007, Swedish Medical Center began a three-year construction project that included two new stories, a renovated lobby, a family-centered NICU (Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit) and a dedicated PICU (Pediatric Intensive Care Unit). This three-phase construction project included 65,500 square feet of new construction and 128,000 square feet of renovated construction.

PHASE I
During construction the main entrance was temporarily diverted to construct a renovated spacious lobby with private alcoves, gift shop, coffee café and catwalk access to the cafeteria on the second floor.

This phase included new construction over existing mechanical and surgical spaces. The patient tower received an additional sixth and seventh floor that was designed to house forty private inpatient beds. Connections were made back to the existing nursing units at each floor.

Additionally, new and renovated patient floors, and renovation to expand and upgrade the NICU with private patient rooms were completed in this phase. Renovation of the existing NICU for improvement and expansion required careful planning to maintain the unit’s sensitive operations without disruption.

“To accommodate the youngest patients of the hospital, patients, personnel and equipment were relocated in four phases for the renovation of 20 new Intensive Care Nurseries (ICN) and 8 private ICNs,” said E Light Project Manager Ron Schwab. A total of 39 electrical panels in the NICU were relocated and centralized to a newly constructed electrical room with 11 panels.

The age of the existing tower and the condition of the existing mechanical and electrical systems made this portion of the renovation extremely challenging and required thoughtful consideration of systems and phasing by all team members during design and construction.

PHASE II & PHASE III
This project also involved the renovation of four floors of the existing high-rise, ten-story patient tower. Design challenges included completely “gutting” and building back the twenty-bed nursing units in place, while keeping the units operational.

“Our electricians worked consecutively in 15 different areas, and installed over 750,000 feet (or 142 miles) of wire throughout the hospital campus,” said Schwab. The project included bringing the existing patient tower into compliance with high-rise codes, and updating the existing fire command center.

LEADER IN HEALTHCARE
E Light Electric served as the electrical contractor for this three-year project, along with: General Contractor, Bovis Lend Lease; and Architect and Engineer, Gould Turner Group P.C.

E Light has completed over $17 million in medical projects in Colorado. In 2009, E Light was awarded an ACE Award for Construction Excellence from the Associated General Contractors of Colorado for their work on this project.

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E Light Electric Services, Inc. is a Colorado owned and operated electrical construction company with a focus on large-scale electrical systems. E Light has completed over $17 million dollars in medical projects for: Swedish Medical Center, Presbyterian St. Luke’s Medical Center, Rocky Mountain Hospital for Children, Memorial Health System, North Suburban Medical Center and various Medical Office Buildings in Colorado.