Wentworth-Douglass Hospital Opens Four-Story Addition, New Center for Women and Children

Wentworth-Douglass Hospital recently opened the doors to its four-story, 136,000-square-foot Garrison Wing addition, ushering in a new era of improved patient care and visitor comfort for residents of southeastern New Hampshire. The Omaha, Neb.-based team of LEO A DALY and BCDM Architects worked together to design the new facility, with LEO A DALY leading programming, architectural, civil structural, mechanical and electrical engineering services, and BCDM Architects leading the interior design.

The first level of the addition includes education and conference space for staff training, medical education and community lectures. The second level houses the new 24-bed Women & Children’s Center with a dedicated C-section operating room and single-room nurseries for privacy and high-level care. The third and fourth levels hold 64 additional private medical-surgical patient rooms.

During the planning stages for the new facility, the hospital and project team solicited feedback from community members, former patients, as well as the nursing and hospital staff to determine how user needs would affect the design — with the end goal to provide all occupants with the top quality of care. The resulting design choices include private, brightly furnished patient rooms that have inboard toilet rooms, allowing for larger windows that bring in copious natural light and more privacy for patients due to less visibility from the corridor. The rooms offer ample seating and sleeping areas for visiting caregivers.

Double-door sizes allow for the transport of larger patients and beds. Decentralized nursing stations are located near the entrances to each room, allowing for quicker access to medical records and supplies, and creating less distance between staff and patients. Also, pass-through supply cabinetry design allows for the easy delivery of fresh linens, blankets and pillows into rooms and the removal of soiled laundry out of the view of patients and their guests. In the public spaces, carpeted corridors and care centers reduce ambient noise levels to help patients sleep better, aiding in healing and recovery times.

In addition to the new Garrison Wing amenities, the project includes an expansion to the parking garage and a new access road to the facility. Harvey Construction, Bedford, N.H., acted as the general contractor.

Since it first opened in Dover, N.H., in 1906, Wentworth-Douglass Hospital has seen significant growth and renovations to its facilities. Prior to the completion of the Garrison Wing, LEO A DALY has been helping the hospital to execute its expansion vision for the past 15 years, providing an ambulatory-surgical addition, multiple renovations and additions to the cancer center, two new operating rooms, improvements to the emergency room, the intensive care unit and the cardiology department, as well as the design of multiple parking structures and a new central utility plant.

Images courtesy of Kessler Photography/LEO A DALY/BCDM Architects.