CLIENT
Saint Joseph Mount Sterling Hospital
LOCATION
Mount Sterling, Kentucky
MARKET
Healthcare
SERVICES
Architecture BIM Graphics Interior Design Landscaping LEAN Process Improvement Planning Programming Wayfinding Analysis
TEAM PIC, PM, PD C. Scott McQueen, NCARB, LEED AP
PP, PD David J. Stewart, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP
PC, PD Sejin Kim, Associate AIA, LEED AP
Glenn T. Davis Parhem Penn O’Briant Trey Rudolph, RLA Erin A. Schumacher, NCIDQ, Associate AIA G. Mike Summers
ormerly Mary Chiles Hospital, Saint Joseph Mount Sterling (SJMS) became a member of the Saint Joseph Health System in 2007. The rural Kentucky hospital has proudly served the people of the Mount Sterling area, including Montgomery, Bath, Menifee and Powell counties, since its founding in 1918. Without a long-term planning concept, the aging acute-care facility had endured multiple renovations and expansions over the years, resulting in a labyrinth of spaces that were undercut by poor adjacency between departments. In dire need of a new hospital that provided flexibility and expandability of programs, established efficient separation of public and patient/ staff circulation, and easily allowed for future expansion, Saint Joseph Mount Sterling turned to GS&P. “The old hospital was located in the middle of a residential neighborhood that was simply not a good location for a healthcare facility,” says Scott McQueen, GS&P principal-incharge on the project. “It was difficult to access and could never really be expanded the way it needed to be because it was surrounded by houses. There was no question that a new facility was needed.” More than ready to transition into a new facility that provided advanced healthcare in an efficient, healing environment, SJMS selected a site located at the entrance point to the city of Mount Sterling for its new 113,000-square-foot, 40-bed replacement hospital.
“One of the hospital’s key project goals was for the new facility to stand as a prominent gateway to the city of Mount Sterling,” says McQueen. “Unlike the former site, which was off the highway and fairly secluded, the new site was close to the Mount Sterling exit and could be clearly seen from the interstate. It was the prime location for their new hospital. “One thing we did at the very beginning of this project—and we do this on every job—was set our guiding principles. These included easy access to the site, creating a familyoriented environment and serving the area beyond Mount Sterling. We then let those principles decide every solution for the hospital from that point forward.” Before design work could begin, it was essential for the GS&P team to fully understand operational processes taking place within the existing facility. While analyzing the hospital’s working procedures, the design team solicited input from all patient and support departments, including registration, ED, radiology, surgery, pharmacy, lab and materials management. This multi-disciplinary approach not only provided the team with a greater understanding of the hospital’s current situation, but it also helped them to identify potential obstacles and opportunities for better efficiencies. “We spent a lot of time in the old facility analyzing the hospital’s existing processes,” adds David Stewart, GS&P senior architect. “Process mapping how the hospital operated in areas such as patient and material