Silver Cross Hospital's recently opened data center puts it at the forefront of an emerging healthcare trend: Combining construction of new hospitals with new data centers to offer the latest in technology and accommodate an explosion in applications and patient data--not just documents, but images and videos.
With the February, 2012 opening of its 600,000-sf, $370 million medical complex with outpatient center, medical service building and hospital, the New Lenox Ill. community hospital needed to update and expand its aging data resources, which were already operating at capacity. With its new 2,450-sf data center, 50% larger than its existing one, patients and staff are already enjoying the benefits of new technology.
Silver Cross became one of the first hospitals to install patient tracking software so families know where a patient is at all times. New communication equipment supports wireless voice and data networks throughout the hospital, providing access to patients and their families while freeing clinicians to use phones and computers where needed instead of based on location. Also, medical telemetry enables remote monitoring of patient vital signs.
Other leaders, including OSF's new Children's Hospital of Illinois in Peoria and the soon-to-open Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, have combined new data centers with new medical facilities. Together, they are laying a technology foundation for the emerging era in healthcare that will be dominated by electronic patient records and new care delivery approaches that require real-time coordination and information exchange among multiple providers, payers, patients, and locations.
Given the escalating IT demands, growth of bigger and better healthcare data centers is only likely to strengthen. In a fall, 2011 survey by Mortenson of 90 data center and facilities experts at the 7x24 Exchange Conference, 92% of respondents ranked healthcare as the industry with the greatest need for new data centers in the next five years. +
Related Stories
| Sep 11, 2012
RTKL appoints Lance Hosey as Chief Sustainability Officer and Senior Vice President
Author and authority on green design to spearhead RTKL Performance-driven DesignSM initiative.
| Sep 11, 2012
McQuade appointed CEO of Tishman Construction
McQuade will focus on driving the growth of the company into new markets and expanding market share in its current areas of operation.
| Sep 11, 2012
Ecosystem Management & Associates joins HDR
EM&A staff will do business as part of HDR Engineering and HDR Environmental, Operations and Construction.
| Sep 10, 2012
Specialty door types—plenty of functional variety
In the MasterFormat section 08 30 00, Specialty Doors and Frames, a number of door types are listed for special functions, access locations, sliding and folding hardware, and even pressure-resistant types.
| Sep 7, 2012
7 Do's and Don'ts for PV roof rack installation
As PVs grow in popularity, nearly half of all installations require roof rack systems. Our expert tells how to do the job right and protect your client’s roof.
| Sep 7, 2012
Net-zero energy pioneers on the el-hi frontier
Getting to net-zero is not easy, but the promise of eliminating energy bills and using state-of-the-art technology as a learning lab can make a compelling case to reach for net-zero.
| Sep 7, 2012
Healthcare architects get a preview of tomorrow’s medical landscape
The topic on everyone’s mind was how the Affordable Care Act would impact healthcare design and construction––and whether the law would even make it past the coming election cycle.
| Sep 7, 2012
Goettsch Partners designs new tower in Abu Dhabi
Al Hilal Bank’s 24-story flagship development provides contemporary office space.
| Sep 7, 2012
Suffolk awarded One Channel Center project in Boston
Firm to manage $125 million, 525,000-sf office building project.
| Sep 7, 2012
Duffy joins Thornton Tomasetti
At Hardesty & Hanover, Duffy partnered with Thornton Tomasetti on a number of projects.