Blog written by Findorff’s Executive Vice President, Jim Yehle
Findorff is excited to announce the recent completion of its latest construction endeavor, UW Health at the American Center. Findorff’s relationship with UW Health dates back to the early 1970s when Findorff built the Clinical Sciences Center (CSC), more commonly referred to as the UW Hospital on Highland Ave. In 2005, UW Health purchased a 42-acre parcel of land on Madison’s east side as part of its successive evolution. A decade later, a state-of-the-art facility stands epitomizing the spirit of innovation.
Taking a fresh approach to healthcare and patient and family-centered care, UW Health partnered with Findorff early on to strategically develop a comprehensive, one-of-a-kind health and wellness center. As with the CSC in the 1970s, Flad Architects was again chosen to be an integral part of the team. Construction began in spring 2013, when hundreds of trades men and women braved harsh winters, record rainfalls, and summer heat to complete the project on schedule and on budget in May 2015. In addition to the construction management team, Findorff self-performed structural concrete, structural and miscellaneous steel, masonry, as well as carpentry. At the peak of construction, over 250 Findorff men and women were on site. Having control over these trades allowed Findorff to push the schedule, while maintaining our commitment to quality.
The new facility opened its doors on Monday, August 17th to patients. UW Health at The American Center is an inviting, 496,000-square-foot healing environment, easily accessible to visitors and home to:
- 14 operating rooms
- A 56-bed hospital serving orthopedic and general medical/surgical patients
- A dedicated training space for athletes consisting of a full-sized basketball court (modeled after that of at the Kohl Center), an outdoor training field, the Center for Sports Movement with 2D- and 3D-movement-evaluation systems, strength-development accommodations, as well as lap and therapy pools
- A Universal Care Center to support urgent and emergency services along with outpatient diagnostic and treatment procedures
- Two floors of clinic exam rooms
- Physical and occupational-therapy space
Additionally, UW Health at The American Center is pursuing LEED® Gold for Healthcare. Through this initiative, it is expected that 34% of the building’s total base water usage will be avoided and 34% will be reused.
Findorff is extremely proud to have again partnered with such a progressive healthcare institution and congratulates UW Health on crafting one of the most-advanced care facilities in the nation.
Blog written by Findorff’s Senior Advisor, Tim Prince
Hospitals, clinics and health systems are technical places with robust systems and facilities designed and employed to drive healing and health. At the same time, the goal is to make their environments comfortable for patients in the midst of uncertainty, pain and fear, and supportive and efficient for caregivers, clinicians and staff. All of this is aimed at enabling compassionate care at single-moments of time amidst a sometimes chaotic environment.
It’s intricate and complicated. And one size does not fit all!
Success requires dedicated, passionate people
- with the resources, environment and training they need
- being willing and able to address challenges and uncertainty, and
- who are driven to make a difference by what they do.
We at Findorff respect and appreciate the tremendous knowledge, commitment and effort that health care workers give every day to care for patients. And while during National Hospital Week we take one moment to specifically honor and thank all of our past, current and future clients for what they do, during every week we apply our values of character, community, and craftsmanship in bringing knowledge, training, innovation, experience and passion to our projects with you to create the caring environments in which you do your amazing work. We hope by doing that we might in some way provide some small support for you, where you can then make a difference in those single moments in time for your patients. Those are the spaces in which healing and health really happen.
To all our clients, thank you for the opportunity to help you help others.
Happy Hospital Week! from your friends at Findorff!