Gilbane, Construction Partners Deliver University Hospitals Ahuja Medical Center Phase 2

Gilbane Building Company and its construction partners, Regency Construction Services, Inc., Next Generation Construction and Adrian Maldonado & Associates, Inc. have completed University Hospitals Ahuja Medical Center Phase 2. Located in Beachwood, Ohio, the $236-million project nearly doubles the existing footprint of the hospital, which opened in 2011. HKS served as the project’s architect.

UH Ahuja Medical Center Phase 2 features:

• New labor and delivery and other mother and baby services
• New neonatal intensive care unit (Level 2)
• Expanded emergency room growing from 22 beds to 30 beds
• Women’s health and comprehensive breast health center
• Expanded radiology to meet demands of emergency room, Harrington Heart and Vascular Institute and sports medicine
• The largest sports medicine complex in Northeast Ohio, performance center, outpatient rehabilitation space, 18 exam rooms and two diagnostic radiology units
• New ambulatory surgical center with eight new operating rooms and 32 universal pre- and post-op beds
• New short stay unit (less than 24 hours) dedicated to patients who need less than 24 hours of care in the ambulatory surgical center

The construction team used a component design approach to accelerate the project timeline. The trades and design-assist partners for mechanical, electrical, plumbing, fire protection, curtainwall and steel were engaged early. Virtual coordination via scheduling software helped keep the team safe during the pandemic and increased efficiencies. Additional time and cost-savings measures include:

• Re-sequencing the schedule through pull-planning sessions to plan for workforce commitments
• Implementing early drawing release of structural steel to mitigate anticipated escalation costs, including pre-purchasing of common beam and column sizes
• Sending completed foundation package for early bidding to provide greater cost certainty, solidifying contractors before others were out to bid

Renderings courtesy of HKS