Topping Out Ceremony Marks Construction Milestone for New Patient Tower

Topping Out Ceremony Marks Construction Milestone for New Patient Tower

The largest hospital expansion project in Oklahoma history achieved a major construction milestone Nov. 6 as the OU Medicine patient tower reached its highest structural point.

Under construction on the OU Medicine health campus and slated for opening late next year, the milestone was marked by celebration as the symbolic final beam was placed in the topping out ceremony.

OU Medicine leaders, state and local dignitaries, employees and other guests heard remarks delivered by Jerome Loughridge, Oklahoma’s Secretary of Health and Mental Health, during the festivities. OU Medicine, Inc. CEO Chuck Spicer talked about the impact the new patient tower will make on Oklahoma’s healthcare and economics.

“The tower represents not only state-of-the-art patient care, but is also creating new economic drive with statewide impact in this central Oklahoma hub of innovation, research, education and employment,” Spicer said. “Since 2018, OU Medicine has added 600 employees; as 2020 begins, an estimated additional 100 full-time positions will become available.”

Designed by Perkins and Will, the new patient tower will span 450,000 square feet over nine floors (eight of those above ground), with room to grow. This marks the first ground-up hospital construction project for OU Medicine since 1975.

The current expansion will add 144 beds and 32 operating rooms to help support the needs of patients treated at Stephenson Cancer Center, those undergoing critical and complex surgical procedures, those with trauma-related injuries and more.

“Often, the people we care for are here during times of great crisis in their lives,” said Kris Gose, OU Medical Center president. “Family space is a critical design element that you’ll see integrated in multiple ways. Patient rooms are bigger, with more space for visitors. Windows will offer views of the state Capitol or the city’s skyline. The space also will support efficiency of care with more room for doctors and nurses to function with ease.”

OU Medicine is the only comprehensive academic health system in the state, offering the widest range of medical and surgical services in the region. Skill, expertise, experience and talent all contribute to successful outcomes in any field of endeavor, said Ian Dunn, M.D., chair of the Department of Neurosurgery in the College of Medicine.

“In every field, the craftsman, artisan or physician is capable of delivering a more satisfying product or experience when he or she has the best tools and the best-equipped environment in which to work,” Dunn said. “That’s what the new patient tower represents. Working as a team, we optimize our skills for the benefit of every patient who crosses the threshold of this center of health and healing.”

The topping out ceremony can be traced to an ancient Scandinavian religious rite of placing a tree atop a new building to appease the tree-dwelling spirits displaced in its construction. As buildings became less timber-framed and more steel, the ceremony morphed into a tree or leafy branch being placed on the topmost beam, often with a flag tied to it. Today, in true Oklahoma fashion, a tree, the American flag and the Oklahoma state flag were placed with the final beam. The beam had been signed by many OU Medicine employees and guests at the topping out ceremony.

Construction on the OU Medical Cener patient tower is well underway

New Tower Designed With Trainees in Mind

When OU Medicine’s new bed tower opens in 2020, it will have spaces that have been intentionally designed for trainees in a teaching hospital.

Elisa Crouse, M.D., associate dean for Graduate Medical Education at the OU College of Medicine, began working with architects early in the planning process to provide input about the particular needs of a hospital where residents and other learners are part of the healthcare team.

The patient rooms will be larger than traditional rooms not only to accommodate an interprofessional team of healthcare providers and learners, but so that family members have ample space as well.

“The rooms will be large enough for the team to come in and see the patient, but also to discuss their treatment with family, because one of our missions is to involve the patient and family in their own healthcare,” Crouse said. “The rooms will facilitate that with privacy so we can visit openly with patients and families.”

On each patient care floor, there will be a conference room and three team rooms, where residents can discuss patient care issues as a group and participate in teaching sessions near patient rooms. At both ends of each floor, there will be smaller triangular spaces where an attending physician and residents can discuss something without having to walk back to a team room.

“If they need to step out of the patient room to discuss something that furthers their learning, they don’t have to talk in the hallway where there’s less privacy,” Crouse said. “They can step into these spaces to discuss care issues, which allows the learning to happen in the clinical flow of rounding on patients. Later, they might go to a team room and pull up images or perform literature searches, and have in-depth discussions about appropriate care for different diseases or situations.”

Another major feature is a large simulation center with two simulation rooms and several debriefing rooms. One simulation room is set up as an operating room suite, complete with anesthesiology booms and operating beds; the other room is more flexible so that it can be used by non-surgical specialties. Faculty will devise and oversee a variety of simulations designed to fine-tune residents’ skills and prepare for the unexpected. Simulations may include patient transports from the ER; patient handovers and related communication; interdisciplinary care; perioperative safety; and mock emergencies. Simulations can be videotaped, and the team can review them in debriefing rooms.

Of a more practical nature, there will be call rooms on each floor where residents and others can relax or take a nap as they are able during a long shift. Secure lockers will be incorporated into the new tower, as well as ample electrical outlets and USB ports to support a multitude of trainees who use mobile technologies to deliver patient care.

“With the new bed tower, we’re not only growing our patient volume, but we’ve enhanced our educational space,” Crouse said. “It’s a wonderful opportunity for us and for all of our learners.”