Efficient layouts, universal rooms, bed lifts, bedside registration, and built-in surge capacity for emergency preparedness are among the features that will make the $120 million University Medical Center Campus Expansion tower in Tucson, Ariz., of the most patient- and staff-friendly hospitals in the Southwest.
Designed by NTDStichler Architecture, Tucson, the 214,000-sf facility will co-locate intensive care units and medical/surgical units on each floor, reducing patient transport time and allowing doctors to better communicate across the departments.
The tower will house a 50-bed emergency department, two ICUs, two med/surge units, three floors of shell space for future expansion, and a two-stop heliport that is also designed to support a Black Hawk helicopter in the event of large-scale disasters. The expansion is slated for completion in late 2009.