New University Hospital Reflects High Standard for Modern Healthcare
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With a top-ranked staff and worldwide customer base, the expectations for the new eleven-story University Hospital at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) were great. After all, UAB Hospital specialty programs are consistently ranked in the top ten by U.S. News & World Report's in its annual "America's Best Hospitals" issue. Most importantly, the new structure would enable UAB Health System to centrally locate the UAB Hospital's diagnostic, operative and emergency centers.
According to UAB Hospital project specialist/designer Vicki Vickers, the UAB Health System provides a complete continuum of care for patients from all over the world, and is internationally renown for its expert physicians and groundbreaking medical research. So, the new facility had to reflect its world class healing capabilities. The goal was to create an exceptional environment that assures the most satisfactory experience possible for patients from arrival to discharge.
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Furthermore, UAB is widely recognized as the "Heart of Healthcare" in Alabama. Situated within a medical campus already well established, the design and function of the new University Hospital (the North Pavilion) needed to facilitate a high standard for state-of-the-science treatment modalities and overall excellence, while resonating its strong commitment to compassionate, personal care for every patient. Vickers explained that this was an ideal opportunity to create supportive, soothing public spaces for visitors, patient rooms and staff areas, further noting, "The new facility had to be a healing environment for mind, body and soul."
And so it is. The new 885,000 square-foot facility features 96 patient rooms, 37 operating suites, 2 procedure rooms, 3 medical surgical units, 4 intensive care units (trauma and burn, surgical, neuroscience, and cardiovascular), and a 38,000 square foot emergency department. Designed to be patient and family friendly, there is seating for more than 900 visitors. And six bridges enable staff and patients to connect to other hospital buildings in the 30-million square-foot medical complex without ever going outdoors.