Expansion, Renovation of University of Virginia Medical Center Nearly Doubles ER Capacity

The expansion and renovation of the University of Virginia Medical Center located in Charlottesville, Virginia has been completed. The project, which began construction in June 2015, provides much-needed additional capacity to the facility’s emergency department as part of the completion of a 430,000-square foot, 14-story expansion and 90,000 square feet of renovation work.

The project — the first major renovation to the ED in many years — increases the number of treatment rooms from 43 to 80 to better accommodate its more than 60,000 annual visitors. The expansion includes new trauma rooms, behavioral health patient rooms and a clinical decision-making unit to assess whether patients should be admitted, observed or discharged. The project also expands UVA’s interventional services for surgical patients, including more operating rooms and procedure spaces and expanded preparation, recovery and support spaces. The upgrades include the addition of a new rooftop helipad, as well.

The expansion comprises a six-story tower built on top of the expanded ED. The new tower allows for the accommodation of more private patient rooms — a major goal of the project. While the project was conceived years prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, the need for private rooms became particularly important at that time. The project’s flexible design allowed for the 84 ICU rooms that were slated for opening in late summer 2020, to be converted to negative-pressure rooms to accommodate the expected surge of COVID-19 patients.

In addition to the three new floors already in operation, the project addresses the need for future growth with three additional floors of shell space that can accommodate future expansion needs.

The project team included general contractor Skanska USA and architect Perkins&Will.

Photos courtesy of Skanska