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Northwestern Medicine is a nationally ranked academic medical center located in the Streeterville neighborhood of Chicago. It is the flagship campus for Northwestern Medicine and the primary teaching hospital for Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. There are 12 buildings and two native prairie lots where landscaping is maintained. Northwestern Memorial Hospital provides a total of 894 inpatient beds and encompasses more than three million square feet of medical buildings within the Chicago campus.

Performing landscape maintenance on the 24-hour hospital campus with its very high vehicle and pedestrian traffic requires that crews be vigilant and aware of their surroundings, pedestrians, and vehicular traffic at all times. Ongoing safety training is done to ensure that crews recognize and mitigate trip hazards and safely operate equipment in the densely populated campus.

As the flagship of Northwestern Medicine and located in the downtown area adjacent to prominent residential condominium towers, maintaining exceptional curb appeal at all times is a very important focus of day-to-day operations.

It is important to hospital administrators to provide as much green space as possible within the buildings, so five green roofs with sustainable plantings are maintained with weekly hand-weeding. The park-like setting along the city streets includes many types of trees and shrubs that are routinely pruned to maintain sight lines for pedestrians, bicyclists and vehicles. Trees are wrapped with 2,000 sets of white lights during the holidays.

The hospital’s goal is to have a more sustainable landscape, so annual plantings are limited to small areas near entrances and seating, either in planting beds or containers. All seasonal color installation and watering tasks are performed during off-peak hours with crews typically starting at 4:00 am. Spring mulch is applied to landscape beds during the weekend when there is less traffic on the campus.

The parkway areas between the sidewalk and street are the largest areas of landscaping and require constant maintenance. These areas are subjected to significant stress from the winter weather, de-icing applications, and urban conditions. Shrubs and perennials are evaluated in spring after the winter protective fabric is removed and supplemental plantings are added if needed. Fertilization is completed in spring and mid-season.

Turf is fertilized three times during the season with two weed control applications. In the spring, turf is over-seeded to promote growth in the areas damaged by salt and snow removal during the winter months.

Purple is a signature color of the hospital, so at the client’s request, purple color annuals are incorporated into spring and summer flower rotations. Fall displays consist of pink chrysanthemums to honor breast cancer awareness month. Containers dotted throughout the campus are handwatered three times per week, with the schedule adjusted for weather.