ProMedica Toledo Hospital Opens Generations Tower

For generations, ProMedica Toledo Hospital and Toledo Children’s Hospital has offered reliable, quality care to residents of the Northwest Ohio community it serves.

Now, with the opening of a new 13-story patient care tower known as Generations Tower, the medical system is prepared to continue to expand its dependable service in a state-of-the-art facility.

In July, ProMedica Toledo Hospital and Toledo Children’s Hospital welcomed its first patients to the new 302-bed building, which replaces the 86-year-old Legacy Tower on North Cove Boulevard in Toledo.

Working for the tower architect, HKS, on behalf of ProMedica, WSP USA provided mechanical-electrical-plumbing (MEP) and fire protection engineering, and designed the building’s communications, low voltage, and security systems.

The new tower features private patient rooms designed to increase caregiver access and time with patients. The larger rooms feature user-friendly technology that helps patients stay informed about their care and improves safety. The tower’s efficient design factored in walking distance for the care team, which has been cut in half from the original tower, and expedites clinical staff access to medicine and supplies. The tower also provides care collaboration meeting areas, where doctors, nurses and other clinical staff can discreetly discuss patient care plans.

The $355 million project also included a 422-space parking garage close to the facility, with one story underground and surface parking for the rest of the structure.

Work on Generations Tower began in April 2016 and construction was completed in June. The parking garage and Generations Tower are now open for patients.

Throughout the project, there were numerous challenges that required collaboration between all sides of the design and construction team. One situation that emerged during the design process led to a critical change to the plans for the central energy plant (CEP).

“The original concept was to expand the existing CEP to serve the new tower,” said Jon Carter, WSP project manager and lead electrical engineer. “But cost, lack of room to expand and routing of services through the existing building quickly led the team to determine that a new remote CEP was the best option.”

The new CEP would be required to house the chilled water and heating water systems, along with medical air and vacuum systems, to serve the new tower. The CEP features heat pump chillers. Emergency power, steam production and bulk oxygen would still be supplied by the existing CEP.

“We collaborated with design-assist mechanical and electrical contractors to determine the most effective and efficient routing of services through the existing building,” Carter said.

In the existing CEP, the emergency power system was expanded. A new 2.25 megawatt medium voltage generator was installed and then paralleled with the existing 2.25 megawatt medium voltage generator.

The building utilizes the concept of off-site prefabricated MEP corridor rack systems. The use of the rack systems allows for increased quality control as the contractors are working on the ground instead of overhead. It also reduces the installation time in the field.

WSP also worked closely with the contractor on the design of the two 180,000 cubic feet per minute (CFM) air handling units (AHUs) to serve the patient floors.

“Square footage is always at a premium, and this led us to having to design and locate the two large AHUs on the roof of the building to serve nine of the patient floors,” Carter said.

It took extensive coordination with the design team to prepare the structural support and arch with the roof, the construction team for the unit construction and manufacturer selection, and ProMedica to ensure they had the ability to maintain the units.

Overall, the tower incorporates environmentally-friendly features into its design, such as glass curtain walls that allow ample natural light to permeate the patient rooms, and energy conserving MEP systems. The building’s terra cotta masonry panels enhances the appearance of the glass façade and provide a durable, long-lasting exterior.

With an academic affiliation with the University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences, the new tower will also provide medical students with a state-of-the-art environment for collaborative learning and increased research activities, serving as a hub of clinical training experiences.

While the tower is now completed and opened, the renovation scope to convert one of the existing patient floors from adult to pediatric care in currently underway and will be completed by the end of the year.

“It was a great experience to spend the past five years working on this project, from the first conceptual design all the way through the Grand Opening in June,” Carter said. “While some of the challenges we faced may not have been fun in the moment, working through an issue to determine a best solution is something that I’ve always found to be extremely gratifying.”

He added that it proved to be a rewarding experience to collaborate with the teams from HKS; Lathrop Turner, the construction contractor; and ProMedica, to make sure that the project was always moving in the right direction.

“I take pride in knowing that our work on this project will have a positive impact on Toledo and the surrounding area, providing the best healthcare possible for them for many years to come,” Carter said.

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