Finding the right fit

Designing and building a hospital just isn’t the same as building a church or a commercial building. There are similarities, of course, but for the North Platte Valley Medical Center, the Platte Valley Healthcare Project (PVHP) board specifically wanted an architectural firm with significant experience in healthcare facilities.

With the recommendation of Health Management Services, the management company for both the clinic and the skilled nursing facility currently in Saratoga, the board selected HGFA Architects, PLLC of Billings, MT.

According to Mike Burke, who owns and manages the firm with his wife, Sherril, HGFA has worked on scores of medical facilities over the years, ranging from hospitals to buildings for medical specialties such as imaging or surgery, with many of them in smaller towns and rural areas.

“All hospitals have the same basic departments — administration, emergency, physical therapy and so on,” Burke said. “But how well they run in each situation depends on the people who run them and the specific needs they have to fulfill. It’s critical that that we address the items that are of most importance to them, which is why one of the key skills an architect needs is the ability to listen.”

Burke said the process of creating what’s known in architecture as a design program included bringing the PVHP board up to speed with a series of detailed tours of other hospitals.

“We are consulting with the management company, of course, but this particular project has been amazing because of how involved the board has been in a positive way,” Burke said. “They were all active and interested in the tours we arranged, and thoughtful in their discussion of how what they learned applied to the needs of the community.”

Burke said the first order of business in hospital architecture is always to determine what essential services are needed, including a financial analysis of each. There is a danger, he said, in adding services that may ultimately be unsustainable. Additionally, a detailed financial accounting is very important to the USDA if a community is soliciting their assistance.

“The USDA is an important part of the equation,” Burke said. “The USDA Wyoming division team led by Lorraine Werner is a third set of eyes on the project from a group that is highly experienced in getting these kinds of hospitals up and running.”

Burke said the USDA digs deep into the operational side as well as the physical structure and looks at the financials and the level of community support because they want to make sure they have something that works.

“The USDA has said the science and technology that modern medicine has created needs to be afforded to the smaller communities in this country and that their role is to help make that happen,” he said. “Our role is to figure out how.”

In addition to the USDA, Burke said HGFA has had preliminary meetings with the Wyoming Health Department to insure the hospital will meet the state’s standards for things such as care, safety and cleanliness. He said the Health Department is as interested in operational details such as how a facility is going to cook and serve meals as it is in the design and function of the emergency room. The Health Department also schedules regular audits and reviews once the facility is complete.

Once the initial building and site design was available, Burke said they developed a preliminary construction budget based on past projects and proceeded to interview construction companies. With input from HGFA, the PVHP board interviewed several contractors and selected Sletten Construction, Inc., with headquarters based in Cody and Laramie.

“It was very important to the board that we select a Wyoming company with Wyoming employees,” Burke said. “Sletten has done a number of hospital and healthcare projects in Wyoming, so they are intimately familiar with the Health Department and have also worked with the USDA as well as our team. It’s a very nice lineup: you’ve got an involved board, a contractor that’s familiar with the process and our specific experience. I think it’s going to make a very successful project.

“This is a very strong board, with passion, knowledge and experience,” he concluded. “It hasn’t been an easy process, but they strongly believe that the North Platte Valley needs better healthcare and especially better emergency services. We don’t take every project that comes along, but it’s especially nice to find one with people who really care.”