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
| Nov 9, 2011
American Standard Brands joins the Hospitality Sustainable Purchasing Consortium
American Standard will collaborate with other organizations to build an industry-wide sustainability performance index.
| Nov 8, 2011
Transforming a landmark coastal resort
Originally built in 1973, the building had received several alterations over the years but the progressive deterioration caused by the harsh salt water environment had never been addressed.
| Nov 8, 2011
WEB EXCLUSIVE: Moisture-related failures in agglomerated floor tiles
Agglomerated tiles offer an appealing appearance similar to natural stone at a lower cost. To achieve successful installations, manufacturers should provide design data for moisture-related dimensional changes, specifiers should require in-situ moisture testing similar to those used for other flooring materials, and the industry should develop standards for fabrication and installation of agglomerated tiles.
| Nov 8, 2011
$11 million business incubator Florida Innovation Hub at the University of Florida completed by Charles Perry Partners, Inc.
The facility houses the UF Office of Technology Licensing, UF Tech Connect, other entities, and more than 30 startup technology tenants.
| Nov 8, 2011
Designer joins Holabird & Root
Clifton has been awarded numerous awards throughout her career, including two AIA Chicago Design Excellence Awards.
| Nov 4, 2011
Mortenson Construction builds its fifth wind facility In Illinois
Shady Oaks Wind Farm is under construction near Compton, Ill.
| Nov 4, 2011
CSI and ICC Evaluation Service agree to reference GreenFormat in ICC-ES Environmental Reports?
ICC-ES currently references CSI's MasterFormat and other formats in all of its evaluation reports. The MOU will add GreenFormat references.
| Nov 4, 2011
McCarthy completes construction of South Region High School No. 2 in Los Angeles
Despite rain delays and scope changes, the $96.7 million high school was completed nearly two-months ahead of schedule.
| Nov 4, 2011
Two Thornton Tomasetti projects win NCSEA’s 2011 Excellence in Structural Engineering Awards
Altra Sede Regione Lombardia and Bank of Oklahoma Center both recognized.
| Nov 3, 2011
GREC Architects announces opening of the Westin Abu Dhabi Golf Resort and Spa
The hotel was designed by GREC and an international team of consultants to enhance the offerings of the Abu Dhabi Golf Club without imposing upon the dramatic landscapes of the elite golf course.
