Provena Mercy Medical Center has just completed a 16,000-sq.-ft. renovation/relocation project for its ICU, which was previously located on the fifth floor of the hospital, where patient flow from the ORs was a major concern. The new ICU is located on the first floor in an area that previously housed ORs and surgery support space and is now adjacent to the new surgery addition.

The new unit features 16 private rooms, decentralized nursing stations, support space, a conference room, offices, equipment storage, and waiting areas. Each room is generously sized at more than 250 square feet, with its own toilet area. The room provides a separate zone for family and nursing and is equipped with a mobile computer workstation for bedside charting with an EICU monitoring system.

Project category: Remodel/Renovation (completed April 2006)

Chief administrator: Timothy P. Selz, President and CEO, (630) 859-2222

Firm: Proteus Group, (312) 337-7800

Design team: Timothy M. Gregg, AIA, ACHA, Principal-in-Charge/Planner; Susan Limbrunner, Project Manager; Ruben Olmeda, Project Architect; Elizabeth Erazmus, Interior Designer; Brian K. Watteworth, PE, Engineering Principal-in-Charge; Harish Chopra, PE, LEED, CIPE, Principal, Mechanical Engineer

Photography: ©2006 Dimitre Photography

Total building area (sq. ft.): 16,000

Construction cost/sq. ft.: $318

Total construction cost (excluding land): $5,083,564

The interior design of the space uses wood-look vinyl flooring, light-colored wood finishes on the furnishings, and a sage green color for the walls. Lighting is provided with a lay-in fixture over the bed that functions as an exam light/reading light. Downlights are used throughout the rest of the room to provide different levels of light depending on the time of day. The overall effect is a warm and calming environment.


The ICU unit itself is L-shaped because of the existing building design, making for a long, spread-out footprint. By employing a decentralized nursing station concept, we were able to create pods within the unit. Each station accommodates two nurses and utilizes an open architecture plan that allows direct visualization to other nursing stations and into each patient room. This new hybrid concept solves the isolation problems of a typical decentralized nursing station. The nursing station has an open peninsula desk rather than a counter, to provide less of a barrier between the patient, his/her family, and the nurse providing care. There are four patient rooms sized and designated for heart patients. These are linked directly to the heart rooms in the OR.