KONE has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in New Orleans, La. to install elevators in the new Southeast Louisiana Veterans Healthcare System Replacement Hospital. The company is installing 43 total third-party elevators, including geared-traction passenger, service and freight elevators.
The planned 200-bed medical center will replace the downtown VA Hospital that has been closed since Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans six years ago. With a 1.6 million-square-foot facility and two 1,000-car garages, the center will provide an anchor for the region’s veterans’ hospital care, long-term rehabilitation and research.
“We are honored to have been chosen by the Department of Veterans Affairs to contribute to this important project for the city of New Orleans,” said Vance Tang, EVP and Area Director of KONE Americas. “Our expertise and experience in the medical environment will enable patients, hospital staff and visitors to move smoothly and safely throughout the complex.”
The project includes an administration building, an ambulatory care building, both an inpatient and outpatient tower, and a diagnostic and treatment building, as well as patient parking, staff parking and a central energy plant. KONE has a long history of designing, installing, maintaining and modernizing elevator and escalator solutions, which meet the special demands of hospital environments. The facility is scheduled to open in 2015.
About KONE
KONE is one of the global leaders in the elevator and escalator industry. The company has been committed to understanding the needs of its customers for the past century, providing industry-leading elevators, escalators and automatic building doors as well as innovative solutions for modernization and maintenance. The company’s objective is to offer the best People Flow™ experience by developing and delivering solutions that enable people to move smoothly, safely, comfortably and without waiting in buildings in an increasingly urbanizing environment. In 2011, KONE had annual net sales of EUR 5.2 billion and on average 35,000 employees. KONE class B shares are listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd in Finland.
