Genesis Health System Breaks Ground on East Campus Expansion

DAVENPORT, Iowa — In its ongoing community commitment to provide the highest quality of care, on June 18 Genesis Health System broke ground on a multi-phased renovation and expansion project.

Planned and designed by Flad Architects, a new seven-story tower will be constructed on the Genesis Medical Center, East Rusholme Street campus. The 215,000-square-foot addition will be located between the existing hospital and parking. An additional 150,000 square feet of the existing hospital will be renovated to include private prep/recovery rooms, OR support spaces, a new procedure suite and a short-stay bed nursing unit on the second floor and on the first floor, a new cafeteria and dining area, chapel and administrative/ancillary offices.

The new tower addition will provide space for an expanded and improved emergency department, outpatient services, sterile processing, 12 new state-of-the-art operating rooms, an expanded PACU, 32 orthopedic surgery beds on the fifth floor, a 32-bed acute care medical nursing unit on the sixth floor, future shell space for an additional 32 beds on the seventh floor and a helistop located on the roof.

Consolidating and improving the surgical services in the new location will resolve a number of patient care and privacy issues. Patients will no longer have to be transported along public corridors or transferred between campuses. It will also enable Genesis to improve productivity by reducing the amount of travel between the East Rusholme Street and West Central Park campuses, as well as improve staff time, equipment and supplies.

“The project positions Genesis for technological advances and the changing needs and expectations of patients,” said Doug Cropper, Genesis Health System’s president and CEO. “The 12 surgical suites will accommodate more sophisticated equipment and thus, more advanced procedures. That allows a higher level of care to be available here.”

A core design principle for the inpatient beds is to create an enhanced experience for patients and their families. In each patient room there is a couch that folds out for visitors to stay overnight, large windows for outside views, patient-controlled light and temperature and noise-management technologies.

The project will also incorporate sustainable principles such as environmentally friendly green roofs, energy-efficient lighting and natural daylighting. The new tower is scheduled to be completed in early 2017 with renovations complete by the end of 2017. The joint venture of Estes/JE Dunn is the contractor for the project.

Photo courtesy of Flad Architects.