LOUISVILLE, Ky. (May 29, 2012) — Norton Healthcare officials today announced formal plans and details for the $89.7 million, 24-month project to transform the 373-bed Norton Suburban Hospital into a new women’s and children’s hospital.
After months of staff, physician and community input, the transformation and construction plans are now complete and getting underway, according to Charlotte Ipsan, president of Norton Women’s Hospital/Kosair Children’s Hospital – St. Matthews. The hospital’s design elements will facilitate new, innovative models of care that are dedicated to the special needs of women and children throughout the lifespan. These include an open, spacious floor plan, offering private rooms in a setting that is visually engaging and full of natural light with enhanced green spaces to promote a sense of healing in a family-centered environment.
Continued access to all current clinical services without interruption is critical during the journey to completely renovate rooms and create the new hospital, according to Ipsan. “Our patients and their families can rest assured that, during the two-year process to transform our facility, they will have uninterrupted access to the highest levels of quality patient care,” Ipsan said.
“The most exciting part of creating the new master facility plan has been creating innovative care models that incorporate premier services and significant investments in new programs and services,” she added.
The St. Matthews campus “allows us to continue to care for men with the centerpiece of the campus concentrating on the unique needs of women,” Ispan said.
The campus will continue to serve men for emergency care (and any required subsequent inpatient care), cancer, endoscopy, outpatient surgery, diagnostics and lithotripsy, among others.
“We’re not just talking about cosmetic changes and physical space changes,” Ipsan said. “While we will be transforming to new private rooms, it will be our service, programs and people that our patients and families will notice the most. None of this would be possible without the help and guidance of our invaluable clinical leaders, support staff, physicians and families.”
Renovation plans continue to move through several levels of approval, including the Norton Healthcare Board of Trustees, zoning and local officials, and the state fire marshal, Ipsan said.
The transformed facility, located in Louisville at 4001 Dutchmans Lane in eastern Jefferson County, plans to feature:
• A renovated adult emergency department;
• The addition of a dedicated pediatric emergency room department providing access to board-certified pediatric emergency services;
• Renovated operating rooms, and the addition of two new adult operating rooms;
• Four dedicated pediatric operating rooms;
• A redesigned 40-bed neonatal intensive care unit, incorporating best practices in facility planning for developmental care;
• A new 14-bed adult intensive care unit;
• A dedicated inpatient migraine treatment unit;
• A dedicated inpatient eating disorders program;
• A comprehensive one-stop Breast Health Center;
• The complete renovation and modernization of all inpatient rooms;
• A redesigned public concourse that will improve patient and visitor flow as well as access to food, retail, pastoral care and outpatient services;
• A three-story glass facade that will rise above the current emergency department entrance, providing enhanced clinical space for emergency services and inpatient programming.
The transformed hospital will follow Norton Healthcare’s philosophy in constructing and renovating facilities: functionally efficient, aesthetically appropriate and fiscally responsible, Ispan said.
The project team includes The Nehemiah Group of Louisville, overall project manager;
Wehr Constructors Inc. of Louisville, construction manager; HKS Inc. of Dallas, executive architect; Laughlin Millea Hillman (LMH) Architecture of Louisville, associate architect; CMTA Consulting Engineers of Louisville, mechanical/electrical/plumbing design; Slesser Engineering Inc. of Louisville, structure; and LD&D Inc. of Louisville, site engineering.
Renovations, which will begin this summer, are projected to be completed in the first quarter of 2014.
Once complete, the women’s component of services will be named Norton Women’s Hospital. The pediatric component will be named Kosair Children’s Hospital – St. Matthews. The campus surrounding the hospital will also receive a new name at the time of transition: Norton Healthcare – St. Matthews Campus.
Norton Healthcare officials originally announced the new project in August 2011, saying the organization was answering the call for a contemporary, multi-disciplinary approach to providing women and children with a full range of health care support in one convenient location.
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