Flagship Mercyhealth Hospital Houses Only State-Designated Children’s Hospital in Northern Illinois

Mortenson has reached completion of Mercyhealth’s Javon Bea Hospital and Physician Clinic–Riverside, a $505-million regional tertiary specialty women and children’s hospital, adult hospital and multi-specialty clinic in Rockford, Illinois, marking the end of the largest construction project in the city’s history. The new facility, which houses the only state-designated children’s hospital in northern Illinois, and a regional perinatal center with 52-bed level III (highest level) neonatal intensive care unit, opened to patients in January.

Mortenson prioritized hiring locally and women and minority representation on the jobsite, with more than 90 percent of craft workers living within 49 miles of the project, while most of the major subcontractors are headquartered or have offices in the area.

Using Lean construction techniques such as 5S, prefabrication and innovative technology, Mortenson built the 563,000-square-foot hospital and physician clinic in just 28 months. The AECOM-designed building, with a six-story, 194-bed adult and children’s hospital and four-story physician’s clinic, was built using structural steel, curtainwall, masonry and composite metal panels that were attached to a cold-formed metal framing system prefabricated by Mortenson to enhance quality and speed of installation.

Mortenson used drones to assist in the planning and management of the complex site logistics and project sequencing. This allowed for efficient coordination and communication resulting in faster, more efficient installation. The project resources peaked at 550 craft workers onsite daily and more than 1,500 craft workers overall and reached more than 1.5 million man hours in total. With another technology, Mortenson was able to scan the interior systems before installing drywall, and then stitched together exact layouts and locations with Google Earth overlays to support facility maintenance.

Day aerial photo / interior photo courtesy of Mortenson.

Early AM aerial photo courtesy of Mercyhealth.