PLANNING ARCHITECTURE ENGINEERING INTERIORS
Omaha VA Ambulatory Care Center
The VA’s first-ever public-private partnership that revolutionized healthcare for veterans. A concerned community came together on behalf of veterans. Their activism led to a new law that allowed their donations to help fund a new clinic building. As a condition of funding, the design team was given flexiblility to rewrite the VA guidelines. The result: a leap forward for the VA system, designed and built in just over half the time of comparable VA projects, and for $35 million less.
FREEDOM
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HON
NOR
DUTY
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The patient journey is designed with a singular focus on overall wellness for veterans. Three bold aesthetic strokes unfold using abstracted symbolism to convey gratitude.
The north façade curtain wall resembles a windblown American flag, guiding veterans to the main entrance.
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An expanse of multicolored glazing, sug veterans upon entry and creates a new
ggestive of military ribbons, greets gateway to the VA campus.
In the waiting area, sedimentary layers of a limestone wall signify soil tracked home amid periods of peace and conflict.
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Best practices, made better The clinical layout combines best practices from the VA and innovations from the private sector. An adapted version of the VA’s Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT) model uses an onstage/offstage configuration, enabling cross-disciplinary teams to collaborate efficiently on patient care. Modifications to the PACT model include additional space for private consultations, abundant natural light and lighting that conveys the passage of time. Surgery suites were designed hand-in-hand with surgeons using virtual reality to customize the model in real time.
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Daylighting strategies Transparency on the south side of the building and glass dividers on the interior allow natural light to penetrate far into backstage areas. Clinicians in each collaborative pod have access to daylight, supplemented with colortuned LEDs in the deeper sections to match daylight conditions. Staff coming from the main hospital and patients exiting their exam rooms enjoy ease of wayfinding courtesy of daylight. Direct solar exposure from the south side is tempered with exterior sun filtering devices.
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Ground level
Women’s Health Center
A large, unified waiting area on the north side serves each floor, maximizing the social opportunities which are so vital to the emotional healing of veterans. Female vets also have access to their own waiting area in the Women’s Health Center. The architecture of the building itself serves as a positive distraction for patients. Connections to nature are ample, thanks to abundant natural light, access to views and physical connections to outdoor walking paths and areas for reflection. Primary care clinics are placed on the bottom floors where they are easily accessible for veterans with mobility challenges.
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Level 1
Patient Waiting Area
The clinic building is joined to the main hospital via an enclosed, split-core connector, creating a new gateway to the overall VA campus. The ribbon wall forms the western edge of an umbilical that unifies the site and makes a powerful gesture that impacts the entire medical center. Organization of the clinic building is clear and intuitive. A backstage corridor runs the length of the southern elevation, optimizing flow and orientation for staff and materials going to and from the main hospital. Each clinic pod is differentiated by wall color to aid in orientation.
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Level 2
Operating Suite
The operating suite is located on the second floor, enabling the primary care clinics to occupy floors that are more conveniently accessed by wheelchair. As a result, significant structural design work was necessary to isolate the second floor from vibration. Because of the flexibility given to the design team to tailor VA guidelines on the project, the surgery suite was customized by the surgery team themselves. A charrette was held in which surgeons experienced operating rooms in virtual reality while the design team made adjustments to the model in real time.
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Site Plan
PLANNING ARCHITECTURE ENGINEERING INTERIORS
8600 Indian Hills Drive Omaha, NE 68114 402.391.8111 leoadaly.com