Project

Overview

Project Name
Purcell Municipal Hospital

Size
30,000 GSF

Market Sector Details
Healthcare Facility in Purcell, OK

Client
SSM Health

Team
Miller Architects, Inc. 

MEP Solutions for Rural Hospitals

The Purcell Municipal Hospital is located in Central Oklahoma’s scenic countryside and provides essential healthcare services that are becoming increasingly necessary for remote locations in the U.S.

The 36,000-square-foot building is outfitted with ten private acute care rooms containing modern and comfortable accommodations for patients. The facility boasts a full-service emergency department with five private rooms and one trauma room. Purcell Municipal also offers services including lab, diagnostic imaging, and nuclear medicine including stress testing and EKGs.

Miller Architects (Miller), the architects of record for the project, envisioned a space that combined economically advantageous solutions with modern healthcare aesthetics. Incorporating visual elements found in hospitality environments allowed Miller to craft a space that puts patients and staff at ease. Alvine Engineering provided mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and foodservice design that met the city’s budgetary requirements and provided the hospital with modern healthcare amenities of critical necessity to the surrounding communities.

A Friendly Touch

Modern healthcare design has embraced warm elements, friendly atmospheres, and design features that craft a soothing environment for potentially anxious patients. In order to support the Owner and Architect in their endeavor to craft a space with modern healthcare aesthetics in mind, our team provided unique lighting solutions in the main lobby space. Abby Montiel LC, an electrical designer at Alvine Engineering, helped craft the lighting design throughout the hospital.

“We wanted to add some whimsical flair to the warm and friendly atmosphere the space created,” Abby explained, “The circular fixtures spread across the large lobby wall create a timeless focal point which users can gravitate toward.”

The reception area lighting design mimics the accent wall in the lobby in order to establish a comforting first impression with new and returning patients. In addition to providing lighting for the reception and lobby areas, our electrical team provided a balanced approach that combined form and function for patient areas. By doing so, our firm was able to effectively orchestrate the transition from hospitality to hospital with changes in lighting applications. The lighting schema intuitively indicates to patients the transition between spaces.

Overhead

The new facility prioritized efficiency and cost. The project team’s challenge was to create a facility that provided modern hospital amenities while utilizing a building with a smaller real estate footprint as opposed to the existing complex, all the while keeping costs low. One of the main design challenges for our mechanical group was crafting practical HVAC solutions that were energy-efficient, robust enough to keep patient air clean, and could work within the limited space parameters available for mechanical infrastructure.

In order to provide the facility with required filtration and temperature control suited to the needs of each department, our mechanical engineers collaborated with the architect and structural engineer to coordinate space on platforms, mezzanines, and other structures along the roof. By utilizing unconventional areas to house mechanical equipment, our engineers were able to effectively meet the needs of the Owner while optimizing the space needed to provide the appropriate level of mechanical infrastructure.

The space was designed during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though the hospital was scaling down, it was still vitally important to provide ample HVAC solutions for isolation and airborne infection rooms. Tim Shimerdla P.E., LEED AP, an Alvine Engineering Associate Principal who oversaw the mechanical design of the project, understood the importance of providing isolation spaces in rural communities for patients who need fast-acting care before being transferred to a larger facility.

“Designing short-stay isolation rooms allows the hospital flexibility,” Tim explained, “Especially when it comes to combating current and future contagious respiratory infections while still having the facilities and resources to assist other patients.”

In an additional effort to mitigate cost, functioning lab equipment was relocated from the preexisting facility into the new development. With any healthcare project, our engineers are given detailed documentation dictating equipment specifications and layouts. In order to provide high-performing designs that adhere to project objectives and code, our firm collaborates closely with the project team in order to quickly adjust to change orders involving major hospital equipment.

“Owners can find more cost-effective and advantageous equipment at any point during the design phase,” Tim stated, “Our responsibility is to be proactive in order to accommodate those changes and give the Owner a facility that doesn’t compromise the quality of care they provide.”

Serving Up Proactive Solutions

While the Owner’s original vision for the foodservice space was strictly to provide food storage capabilities, Alvine Engineering Foodservice Designer, Jordon Kramp, raised concerns about the viability of relying on outside vendors to consistently deliver meals that patients need.

 “Purcell Municipal is located in a rural community which doesn’t have many restaurants close by,” Jordon explained, “If the restaurant nearest to the hospital were to close and they were relying on them to provide meals, that would put them in a tough position.”

Fortunately, Jordon had preemptively created schematic designs for a space capable of serving and storing meals in the hospital if the Owner decided to reconsider the facility’s foodservice capabilities. After raising his concerns to the project team, the decision was made to shift the foodservice area into a space with both food preparation and storage components. Jordon’s alternative design allowed the team to transition seamlessly to the updated objectives.

“Ultimately, the owner made a decision they were happy and comfortable with,” Jordon explained, “Being able to provide solutions supporting those decisions is the ultimate goal for our design team.”

Delivering Healthcare in America’s Heartland and Beyond

Alvine Engineering celebrates a rich history of experience providing high-performance solutions utilizing innovative engineering in healthcare facilities. To view more of our experience in the healthcare industry, we invite you to view our project portfolio.