Architecture

The Indiana Heart Hospital is not only Indiana’s first dedicated heart hospital to meet the growing needs of patients and their families, but a partnership with GE Medical Systems, making The Indiana Heart Hospital the world’s first paperless, filmless, and all-digital heart hospital.

The hospital is designed to contain the most up-to-date equipment and systems for patients, physicians, and staff as it provides a comprehensive range of cardiovascular services and care. All patients’ medical charts and films are in a digital format, and physicians and nurses have access to this real-time information from computers located in each patient’s room. The facility is designed for digital capabilities for every aspect of patient care, from patient charts to food menus.

The Indiana Heart Hospital is expected to perform 900 open-heart procedures each year. The 210,000-square-foot hospital with its attached 45,000-square-foot medical office building is located on more than 11 acres on the Community Hospital North campus on the northeast side of Indianapolis. It is licensed as a separate entity with its own medical staff and management.

The hospital is a four-story structure with a lower level. The entry includes a two-story high promenade to greet patients, families, and visitors. Contained on the first floor are 32 outpatient day rooms, a cardiac emergency department, 6 cardiac cath labs, 4 surgery suites, 16 ICU beds, laboratory facilities, a pharmacy, a central sterile area, and an imaging department.

The upper three floors house 24 universal patient rooms per floor. Each upper floor has three pods of eight patient rooms designed around a pinwheel concept. The nursing ratio is one to four patients for every nurse, and the typical travel distance from nursing pod to support space is 44 feet. As visitors enter each floor, there is a central greeting point that helps in controlling access to the patient areas.

Project category: New construction (completed February 2003)

Chief administrator: David Veillette, CEO, (317) 621-8000

Firm: BSA LifeStructures, Inc., (317) 819-7878

Design team: Monte L. Hoover, AIA, Principal-in-Charge; Scott A. Hunt, RA, Executive Architect; Robert A. Shea, PE, Engineering Principal (BSA LifeStructures, Inc.); John Castorina, AIA, ACHA, Project Designer; Jim Johnson, AIA, Project Manager (RTKL Associates, Inc.)

Photography: Tony Frederick, CS Kern; Greg Murphey, Murphey Studios

Total building area (GSF): 210,000

Construction cost/sq. ft.: $190

Total cost (excluding land): $60,000,000

The Indiana Heart Hospital is designed to accommodate two additional patient floors in the future. The site and building design also allow for horizontal growth on the ground level, to provide space for additional cath labs, day rooms, surgical suites, and ICU beds.