MarinHealth Medical Center Replacement Hospital Features Holistic Patient-Focused Healing

The new Oak Pavilion at MarinHealth Medical Center, located in North Bay, California, is complete. The $535-million replacement building project is designed to meet the community’s changing needs and provide an exceptional healing environment for patients and caregivers, alike. The project team included McCarthy Building Companies and Perkins Eastman.

The five-story, 260,000-square-foot acute care hospital building houses 114 private patient rooms; an expanded emergency department and trauma center with separate entrances and treatment areas for trauma, psychiatric and high-security patients and six operating rooms, three of which are equipped with interventional radiology equipment.

To ensure a smooth delivery with minimal change orders, the project was executed using a combination of the Progressive Design-Build method and OSHPD’s collaborative review process. The shared relationship between all parties allowed the team to ensure the project’s compliance with the latest state-mandated earthquake standards, overcome challenges inherent in the site’s topography and proximity to the existing facility and to rapidly respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The building is one of the first to utilize the general contractor’s proprietary program, which involved self-perform procurement and installation of 7,673 new pieces of medical equipment, the transfer of 1,169 pieces from the hospital’s existing building and plans to incorporate 37 additional pieces. With the program, the building team coordinates directly with the project’s engineering trades and vendors to oversee the equipment startup, testing, commission and training phases. The outcome results in minimal design changes, surety of delivery and installation and the project’s overall speed to market.

Supporting an all-inclusive approach to healing the whole patient, the hospital leverages its natural surroundings, as well as best practices in modern healthcare building and design. Each patient room contains floor-to-ceiling windows with views of either Mount Tamalpais or the hospital’s gardens that maximize natural light. Designated zones allow staff the space to seamlessly maneuver equipment, as well as room to unfold a cot for overnight visitors. The absence of nurse station columns, commonly found in hospital layouts, provides clear sight lines for monitoring patients.

Among the hospital’s most prominent highlights is the sunken garden. Multilevel indoor and outdoor patio areas offer impressive views of beautiful, board-formed, colored-concrete walls supporting tiered plants, trees and hand-picked granite boulders expertly locked in place. The curved curtainwall and glass handrails complement and mirror the hospital’s hillside garden.

A reflection of the region’s sustainability values, the Oak Pavilion is positioned for LEED Gold certification. Several features are incorporated to enhance the facility’s energy efficiency and high performance, including a modular, heat pump chiller as the primary and emergency heating and cooling source; silver ion water filtration to reduce pathogens and bacteria; power, water and sewer systems to sustain the hospital for up to four days and independently valved ventilation systems capable of converting individual rooms or zones into quarantine spaces to manage infectious patient surges.

Photo credit Chris Constantine.