This year, nearly 1.1 million Americas are expected to suffer “coronary events,” according to an American Heart Association report released earlier this year. The good news is that the number of deaths caused by cardiovascular heart failure or coronary heart disease has been falling steadily over the past several years.
That decline corresponds with the growth of heart failure clinics that have been popping up across the country, not only on academic campuses such as Stanford, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, the University of Iowa and the University of Michigan, but also at major medical centers like Mayo Clinic (which has heart failure clinics in Arizona, Florida, and Minnesota), NYU|Langone Medical Center, and Cleveland Clinic.
Also see: 2019 Healthcare Giants Report: The ‘smart hospital’ is on the horizon
Add to that list the Max and Debra Ernst Heart Center, a $9 million, 14,000-sf facility that opened last month at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich. This addition, which is set up to treat 100 visitors per day, includes 12 patient care rooms, an echocardiogram room, a vascular room, a stress testing room, and two treatment rooms designed for outpatient medication infusion services.
The clinic is named after Max Ernst, the former Arbor Drugs COO, and his wife, who last year donated $5 million to the construction of the new heart failure center.
The clinic, with 12 patient rooms, is set up to treat up to 100 visitors per day.
David Jaeger, Principal, Healthcare Studio Leader, Harley EIllis Devereaux (HED), this project’s primary design architect, talked about the “scalability” of the clinics for treating heart failure. “That’s been the case for Beaumont for many years,” adding that the new clinic is about expansion and branding.
He says his firm has had a “longstanding relationship” with Beaumont, dating back to 1997. HED has also done a number of heart centers for other clients; Jaeger says this has become something of a specialty for the firm. On the Beaumont project, HED was also the SE, ME, EE, and landscape architect. PEA Inc. was the CE. And Kasco Construction was the CM.
Heart failure clinics: More than a heart hospital
The goal of heart failure clinics, he explains, is to keep more patients out of emergency rooms. He made the point, however, that cardiology in general is not a growing service anymore for hospitals. “You rarely hear about open-heart surgery anymore,” he says, noting the clinicians are doing a much better job, and have better tools, to treat patients so they don’t need major surgery. “Cardiovascular clinicians have to think about population health in a different what to grow and expand their businesses.”
The clinic's glass facade lets in more natural light.
Jaeger says that this project was a challenge because the clinic needed to be wedged within five existing buildings on campus. It also needed to mediate radiation services below.
The precedent for heart failure clients that HED turned toward for its design, says Jaeger, was Duke University, which operates an advanced heart and lung failure clinic, a cardiology consult clinic, and a clinical research unit.
Beaumont is a 3 million-sf hospital, so patient access to the clinic was imperative. Located adjacent to the East Tower entrance of the hospital near the Ernst Cardiovascular Center that opened eight years ago, the clinic has its own entryway in close proximity to parking.
Jaeger also points out that, even though this campus’ buildings are mostly made from brick, HED specified a glass façade that wraps around the clinic addition, providing more natural light to patients and visitors.
Related Stories
Urban Planning | Feb 5, 2024
Lessons learned from 70 years of building cities
As Sasaki looks back on 70 years of practice, we’re also looking to the future of cities. While we can’t predict what will be, we do know the needs of cities are as diverse as their scale, climate, economy, governance, and culture.
Giants 400 | Feb 5, 2024
Top 90 Shopping Mall, Big Box Store, and Strip Center Architecture Firms for 2023
Gensler, Arcadis North America, Core States Group, WD Partners, and MBH Architects top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest shopping mall, big box store, and strip center architecture and architecture engineering (AE) firms for 2023, as reported in the 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Laboratories | Feb 5, 2024
DOE selects design-build team for laboratory focused on clean energy innovation
JE Dunn Construction and SmithGroup will construct the 127,000-sf Energy Materials and Processing at Scale (EMAPS) clean energy laboratory in Colorado to create a direct path from lab-scale innovations to pilot-scale production.
Architects | Feb 2, 2024
SRG Partnership joins CannonDesign to form 1,300-person design giant across 18 offices
SRG Partnership, a dynamic architecture, interiors and planning firm with studios in Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, Washington, has joined CannonDesign. This merger represents not only a fusion of businesses but a powerhouse union of two firms committed to making a profound difference through design.
Giants 400 | Feb 1, 2024
Top 90 Restaurant Architecture Firms for 2023
Chipman Design Architecture, WD Partners, Greenberg Farrow, GPD Group, and Core States Group top BD+C's ranking of the nation's largest restaurant architecture and architecture engineering (AE) firms for 2023, as reported in the 2023 Giants 400 Report.
Standards | Feb 1, 2024
Prioritizing water quality with the WELL Building Standard
In this edition of Building WELLness, DC WELL Accredited Professionals Hannah Arthur and Alex Kircher highlight an important item of the WELL Building Standard: water.
Luxury Residential | Feb 1, 2024
Luxury 16-story condominium building opens in Chicago
The Chicago office of architecture firm Lamar Johnson Collaborative (LJC) yesterday announced the completion of Embry, a 58-unit luxury condominium building at 21 N. May St. in Chicago’s West Loop.
Industry Research | Jan 31, 2024
ASID identifies 11 design trends coming in 2024
The Trends Outlook Report by the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) is the first of a three-part outlook series on interior design. This design trends report demonstrates the importance of connection and authenticity.
Museums | Jan 30, 2024
Meier Partners' South Korean museum seeks to create a harmonious relationship between art and nature
For the design of the newly completed Sorol Art Museum in Gangneung, South Korea, Meier Partners drew from Korean Confucianism to achieve a simplicity of form, material, and composition and a harmonious relationship with nature. The museum is scheduled to open on February 14. It is the firm’s first completed project since restructuring as Meier Partners.
Luxury Residential | Jan 30, 2024
Lumen Fox Valley mall-to-apartments conversion completes interiors
Architecture and interior design firm Morgante Wilson Architects (MWA) today released photos of its completed interiors work at Lumen Fox Valley, a 304-unit luxury rental community and mall-to-apartments conversion.