University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics
To address Iowa’s critical health care needs, University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics broke ground on a new campus at the corner of Forevergreen Road and Highway 965 in North Liberty, Iowa. Spread across 60 acres, the 469,000 square foot facility will allow UIHC to care for more patients while expanding its research and educational operations to support students and trainees.
The Forevergreen Road campus was being built to accommodate up to: 48 beds, 21 emergency care rooms, 16 operating rooms and two more procedure rooms, laboratories, a pharmacy, advanced diagnostic imaging, outpatient clinics, as well as teaching and research space to prepare the next generation of Iowa physicians. To support the needs of the hospital, Baker Group built the 30,000 sq ft Central Utility Plant (CUP).
In addition to increasing state-wide tertiary care capacity, the new $525.6 million campus also will play an important role in addressing substantial physician shortage projected in Iowa over the next 10 years by expanding UI Hospitals & Clinics’ existing teaching capacity.
Baker Group provided piping and sheet metal services for the construction of the CUP. The project involved a 3000 Ton chilled water system, a 36MM BTU heating hot water system, a fuel oil system for generator and boiler backup, and domestic water source systems to support the hospital. The CUP also included plumbing and HVAC for its own use to house the facility support team.
Challenges included finding local skilled labor and minimizing onsite manhours through offsite manufacturing and prefabrication. Baker Group utilized a program called “OpenSpace”, which provides a 3D “Scan” of construction as it progresses at set intervals. This allowed the offsite team members to walk through the construction site virtually as they tracked project progress. A 6-month "endurance period" was required prior to owner turnover, which Baker Group met by completing the installation and startup of systems on schedule. Baker Group’s local service team provided 24/7 operational support during this period.