Catholic Healthcare West Seismic Upgrade

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Northridge Hospital Medical Center (NHMC) is a 425-bed Acute Care Facility in the west San Fernando Valley. The building sustained structural damage in the 1994 Northridge earthquake, and required structural upgrades. The upgrades to their Diagnostic and Treatment (D&T) Building will ensure continuous operations even in the incident of a future seismic event. This key facility will remain fully operational during the 23-phase, 27-month project that is scheduled for completion in early 2008.

The D&T Building is the heart and brain of the hospital. NHMC’s Emergency and Trauma Center, located on the first floor of the D&T Building, is a Level II Trauma Center and one of only two San Fernando Valley Hospitals equipped to treat traumatic and life-threatening injuries. The second floor Surgery Department has ten Operating Rooms and two Cath Labs in constant use. The D&T Building also includes: Radiology/Imaging Department, GI Lab, Materials Management, PBX, the main IT Server Room, and all of the hospital’s primary storage areas.

The project and communications plans for the renovation and upgrades have been carefully designed and implemented to analyze all Stakeholder needs, to minimize user impact, and to ensure that operations continue to run smoothly and efficiently during construction. Seismic upgrades to the D&T Building will include strengthening of the existing structure on all four sides of the three-floor building, as well as the penthouse structure and the bridge structure connecting the F and Farr Towers.

The project also includes a number of upgrade areas and the remodeling of several existing restrooms for ADA compliance. The upgrade areas include: the renovations of the PBX/Purchasing area, the relocation of the Endoscopy Suite to remodeled space in F Tower, a new five-bed Cardiac Care Suite in the Emergency Department, a remodeled Radiology Room, and an expanded and remodeled Cystoscopy OR. The project has recently expanded to include a second phase of construction, slated for 2008, that will add two surgical suites and a patient bed tower to the hospital.