PROJECT CATEGORY New Construction (completed May 2001)

CHIEF ADMINISTRATOR Mary Kalkoff, RN, Executive Director, Women’s and Children’s Services, (319) 369-7211

FIRM Ellerbe Becket, (612) 376-2000

DESIGN TEAM Doug Westby, Lead Architect and Medical Planner; Christine Hester Devens, Lead Interior Designer; Michael Florell, Project Director; Howard Nelson, Project Architect

PHOTOGRAPHY Dana Wheelock

BED CAPACITY 76

TOTAL BUILDING AREA (SQ. FT.) 90,000

TOTAL LAND AREA N/A

TOTAL COST Not released


The primary goal of this project was to create a family-centered facility with the following features: Women’s Health Education/Conference Center; Lending Library with women’s health resources; Women’s Care Clinic with complementary therapies; Birth Center with 37 family-focused LDRP/antepartum patient rooms (each with a queen-size postpartum Murphy Bed); flexible nurses’ station layout in the Birth Center allowing centralized or decentralized nursing coverage over various census conditions; buffet food service at the Birth Center, with public and private dining options; a 22-bed NICU with all private rooms; Acute Care Pediatric (12 beds) and Pediatric ICU (5 beds); and patient rooms (LDRP, NICU, Peds and PICU) with rooming-in capability for a family member.

The interior design emphasizes hospitality, with rounded forms, soft lighting and the warmth of wood to reinforce the comforting environment. In the lobby, a water feature and extensive plantings introduce a soothing connection to nature.

Throughout the facility, there are numerous comfortable sitting areas where families can gather to visit.

In the first-floor Birth Center, new parents and their families benefit from advanced medical care. The richly appointed private birthing suites feature a queen-size Murphy Bed for Mom and Dad, entertainment center, refrigerator and whirlpool tub.

St. Luke’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is one of the first to have all-private patient rooms. Based on the concepts of developmental care, lighting, sound and temperature can be custom-tailored to each baby’s condition and developmental needs.

The spacious, sunlit patient rooms in the Pediatrics and Pediatric Intensive Care Units bring homelike comfort to families. A playful lighthouse theme appeals to the various ages treated on the units


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