CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — 
Martha Jefferson Hospital recently opened the doors of its new replacement campus. The 540,000-square-foot, 176-bed hospital was designed by Kahler Slater. Mortenson Construction Company provided construction management.
On an 80-acre site, the replacement hospital is designed to allow for future expansion, a big difference from its previous downtown location, which was constrained to limited space and aging infrastructure. As a medical campus, the new hospital joins the site of Martha Jefferson Hospital’s existing Outpatient Care Center, creating a centralized place for community residents to receive the majority of their healthcare services.
A key design intent was to remove the anxiety associated with being on a medical campus and instead evoke a home-like experience to comfort and greet visitors. Easy access to the campus, large, private patient rooms and local artwork help to achieve this goal. Staff amenities, such as break rooms, were designed by nurses to provide places for respite allowing staff to also feel refreshed while caring for patients. A separate back-of-house capability allows the delivery of supplies and equipment without passing through patient or public spaces.
Evidence-Based Design principles, LEAN thinking and sustainable design strategies were applied in order maximize patient safety and clinical results. As a Planetree affiliate hospital, the team seamlessly blended these concepts with the overall goal of creating a patient-centric environment.
“We had strong partners who did a great job of planning,” states Ron Cottrell, vice president of corporate development. “Kahler Slater and Mortenson Construction both did a great job of managing their timelines and their processes, but we also had a number of local subcontractors who were very involved in making the vision a reality.”
Additional team members included: Ring & DuChateau as the mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering firm, GRAEF as the structural engineer and many other local Charlottesville firms.
The hospital opened nearly six months earlier than originally scheduled.
