Mat-Su Regional Medical Center/Palmer, Alaska

Architect
Ascension Group Architects/Arlington, Texas

Owner
Community Health Systems/Franklin, Tennessee

Size
Medical Center: 215,000 sf
Medical Office Building: 64,000 sf

Cost
$69.5 million

TLC Services
M/E

Alaska’s arctic environment drove the design for Regional Medical Center, a replacement hospital in a fast-growing region 40 miles north of Anchorage. The three-story hospital has a new fast-track emergency department, a 14-bed intensive care unit, a 50-bed medical/surgical unit, an eight-bed obstetrics department, prenatal care unit, six operating rooms and post-anesthesia care bays, one C-section room, two endoscopy rooms, a radiology department, and a catheterization lab. Third-floor shelled space provides the capacity for an additional 50 beds. Daylighting, specialized insulation and vapor barrier systems, and seismic requirements were among the design considerations. In the winter, frigid temperatures and short days (some with only four hours of daylight) made it difficult to bring in natural light while minimizing heat transfer through the windows. The design team opted for dual-paned windows with a single argon-filled cavity, low-emissivity glass, with extra large windows in the patient rooms. Interior lighting levels were enhanced to exceed international standards to offset the seasonal darkness. Outside, heated paving is incorporated into the walkways in critical areas to melt the snow. This system is served by an oversized boiler that feeds a continuous hot-water loop running beneath key sidewalks, hospital entry points and the handicapped parking areas.Water vapor in the airtight conditions required in Alaska also necessitated a specialized design approach. In the winter, vapor is trapped within the walls by the building’s exterior insulation finish system and freezes. When it melts in the spring, the water can work its way down conduit and into the receptacles. To prevent this, the team designed a vapor barrier immediately behind the wallboard on the inside face of the building. Designing for possible seismic activity in the area was another consideration. All internal components including sprinkler pipes, conduit, ducts, light fixtures, wall partitions, and medical equipment, were seismically braced.Initially, the hospital was designed with independent systems for well water, pumps, water storage and sewage holding because these systems were not available at the job site. These now serve as redundant systems for emergency needs. Under separate contract with Ascension Group, TLC also provided MEP services for the attached four-story, 64,000 sf medical office building. The hospital won the Gold Award, Institutional Category, in the Building Design & Construction 2007 Building Team Awards competition.