The Detroit Medical Center's new owners, Vanguard Health Systems, is expecting to close on the purchase on October 1, and construction on one major project on its Detroit campus will begin immediately: a new pediatric specialty center at Children's Hospital. Construction will take 16 months on the $24.6 million building.
Other improvements to the Midtown campus will be bid out for architectural services at that time, including improvements to inpatient rooms ($13.9 million) and a new operating room and pre- and post-op areas ($4.4 million) at Detroit Receiving, and a new patient tower and office building ($24.6 million) at Children's.
Harper University Hospital will gain a new lobby and entrance ($8.5 million); an expanded emergency department ($2.3 million); a renovated patient unit ($4.3 million), surgical services area ($16.9 million) and ground floor ($9.8 million); and a new cardiovascular and multi-specialty building ($58 million). A 1,700-car parking structure also will be built.
Also going out for architectural bidding is work at Sinai-Grace In Northwest Detroit. Its ICU and radiology departments will be renovated ($52.6 million) and there will be facade and site improvements.
There are $500 million in total improvements planned, including renovations at Huron Valley-Sinai, which are also slated to start on October 1.
Dave Manardo, DMC's corporate vice-president of facilities, construction and engineering says that individual project start dates will be determined by the bidding process. "There are no priorities; they are all important," he says.
Manardo expects the new patient tower at Children's Hospital to take the longest time to build, approximately 4 1/2 years. It will go up just east of the existing Children's Hospital.
DMC has made a commitment that 30% of all construction dollars will be awarded to minority- and women-owned and Detroit-based businesses. There are also set minimums for hours worked by minorities, Detroiters and Wayne County residents. "As we award these projects, [we will be] looking at the composition of the teams that responded to the requests for proposals, with an emphasis on those teams that provide the most inclusion and diversity," says Manardo.
Source: Dave Manardo, DMC
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh
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