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 OakBend Breaks Ground on 2nd Campus
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RICHMOND, TEXAS - April 17, 2008 OakBend Medical Center held the ceremonial groundbreaking for its second campus at US 59 and Williams Way on Thursday, April 17.
This
second campus will be constructed in two phases. Phase 1 will consist
of a 90-bed three story full service acute care facility. Healthcare
services will include medical/surgical services, a floor dedicated to
women’s services, ICU, imaging, laboratory and pharmacy services. A
65,000 square foot professional office building will also be developed
on the site.
Phase
II will include expanding to 240 beds and increasing the hospital to
six stories. There will be also be space for a second professional
office building and low-rise parking ramp. 
The
new hospital building is being designed by HDR, a Nebraska-based
architecture firm with Houston offices. An intensive planning process,
led by Joe Freudenberger, CEO and involving the directors, physicians
and members of the executive team, have finalized the design. Robins
& Morton has been selected as the construction company for the
project as they have a experience in building high quality healthcare
facilities.
The
second campus location at Williams Way Blvd. and U.S. 59 was chosen for
a variety of reasons including; high visibility and easy access for
patients, visitors and physicians.
Joe
Freudenberger commented, “the hospital is designed for the comfort,
convenience and care of our patients and their loved ones. Each patient
room will be private and is designed to maximize the natural light
provided by the window. In most hospitals’ patient room designs, the
bathroom is sited by the window thus blocking out natural light into
the room or it is situated by the door which encroaches on the
visibility of the patient by medical and clinical staff from the
corridor. By nesting the bathroom, we have obtained the best of both
worlds; staff have full visualization of the patient as soon as they
enter the room and window space is not lost to the bathroom. In
addition, each room will have accommodation for family members to stay
overnight.”
Each
floor will have three wings and are oriented in a “T” shape, with a
central nursing station. This design provides good visualization of
each patient wing from the nursing station. There will also be
strategically placed workstations next to each patient room which will
position caregivers even closer to their patients.
The
hospital's operating facilities will be equipped with state-of-the art
technology that will enable surgeons to develop and perform procedures
that are less invasive, more economical and more effective. The
surgical suite will contain three operating rooms for inpatient
procedures with a shelled in space for a fourth room. The operating
suite has been designed for further expansion in Phase II to
accommodate 4 more operating rooms.
The
second campus will include a helicopter landing pad and emergency
department, however the trauma program will remain a mainstay of the
existing campus on Hwy 90A.
The
hospital will be equipped with computerized systems to speed the flow
of decision-making information to medical professionals and improve the
quality of care. The electronic medical record and film-less,
computerized imaging systems will provide up-to-the-minute information
for physicians.
Jeff Council said "this is one of the most exciting developments OakBend has undertaken to date. As fast
as this community is growing, the board recognizes that it is essential
that we expand our services to accommodate the increasing healthcare
needs. We are really looking forward to our opening in Winter 2009, so
that we can continue to serve the community in appropriate settings.”
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