Hammes Company Brings Flexibility, Collaboration to New Kaiser Permanente Colorado Facility

ENGLEWOOD and LONE TREE, Colo. — Representing the onset of a planned expansion, Kaiser Permanente Colorado’s new multi-specialty center opened to patients in February 2014 within Colorado’s popular south Denver market. The center marks Kaiser Permanente Colorado’s third facility in recent years, with other locations in Denver and Lafayette. The 275,000 square-foot facility is conveniently adjacent to Denver’s commuter rail system off Interstate 25.

Brookfield, Wis.-based, Hammes Company was selected to join the project team just prior to construction in 2012 to provide supplemental project management leadership and expertise from a clinical perspective. Along with acting as project manager, Hammes Company worked to become fully integrated into the project team to the benefit of Kaiser Permanente’s project goals, which included quality control, sustainability and best-in-class ancillary departments, including outpatient surgery and imaging. As Kaiser Permanente’s patient volume grew in south Denver, so did the demand for additional services. The new center provides the next step into specialty care.

The center, which opened to patients last month, was developed in phases and sits on a 20-acre integrated campus. The specialties and services offered are robust and varied, encompassing infusion services, laboratory, oncology, obstetrics, gynecology, ambulatory and general surgery, allergy care, gastroenterology, orthopedics, clinical palliative care, physical/occupational therapy, optometry, hearing services, a café and a pharmacy.

“Partnering with an organization as renowned and respected as Kaiser Permanente was a significant opportunity for Hammes Company, and it was one which we did not take lightly,” says Richard Galling, president and chief operating officer. “We provided ample flexibility in our hospital development approach to complement their expert internal teams.”

Sitting in juxtaposition to quality control, sustainability was a top project goal for Kaiser Permanente Colorado. The facility was constructed to meet all U.S. Green Building Council standards and is currently under consideration to receive LEED Silver certification. The new Lone Tree center contains several innovative features designed to enhance the sustainability of the building, including the use of recycled materials, low-flow plumbing and a shading system designed to cool the building.

“This is a remarkable facility for many reasons, including the mix of specialists and provision of care. For the benefit of the patients and staff, several unique features were incorporated, such as outdoor spaces with views of the Rocky Mountains, convenient parking and access for discharged patients and car-charging stations for electric vehicles,” explains David Dike, senior project executive with Hammes Company’s Englewood office.

The integrated project team for the new center comprised several Colorado-based firms, including Davis Partnership Architects, Denver in a joint venture with Bennett Wagner & Grody Architects PC, Denver; general contractor Adolfson & Peterson Construction, Aurora; electrical engineer ME Engineers of Colorado Springs and structural engineer Martin/Martin Inc. of Lakewood.

“David brought a fresh perspective and the leadership necessary to help the united project team complete this facility for which we are very proud. We challenged when needed and provided our leadership managing complex healthcare facility projects, both regionally and nationally,” says Bill Foulkes, regional vice president with Hammes Company.

Hammes Company provided additional services to Kaiser Permanente Colorado through a post-mortem evaluation of the project to capture potential process and facility improvements for future buildings within their network.