Project category: New construction & Remodel/Renovation (October 2004)

Chief administrator: Jean Cherry, Executive Vice-President, (270) 745-1000

Firm: Nolan & Nolan, Inc., PSC, (502) 585-1272

Design team: Thomas J. Weis, Principal-in-Charge; Gregory White, Project Architect; Marc Holley, PE, MEP Engineering Director; Bill Grigsby, Structural Engineer; Penny Houchens, Interior Designer

Photography: ©2004 Bryan Moberly, http://moberlyphotography.com

Total building area (sq. ft.): 83,725 (new); 24,355 (renovation)

Construction cost/sq. ft.: $200 (new); $179 (renovation)

Total cost (excluding land): $16,783,850 (new); $4,369,290 (renovation)


This project is a creative solution to the hospital’s need for major space increases for expanded Ambulatory Surgery, Emergency, and Diagnostic Services. Master Planning initiatives concluded that these services could not be adequately expanded within the constraints of the existing hospital structure or the surrounding city streets.

Since existing Inpatient Surgery, with eight operating rooms, is located at the perimeter of the building on the second floor, the solution was to expand the second floor, spanning across the city street, to accommodate eight new Ambulatory Surgery operating rooms with separate entrance, registration, waiting, prep/hold/recovery, and staff support spaces. Although functioning as a single surgery suite, this allows Ambulatory Surgery to maintain its own entrance, access, and identification. The designed plan provides ultimate flexibility for space and staff.

The newly expanded Emergency Services Department, developed across the street on the first floor, is a state-of-the-art service with segregated walk-in and ambulance entrances, registration and waiting areas, and individual rooms for Fast Track, Exam/Treatment, OB-GYN, Orthopedics, Chest Pain, Trauma, and a Clinical Decision Unit. For total patient service, dedicated radiology, CT scan, and laboratory services are included in the expansion.

The vacated Emergency Services Department space was renovated as a dedicated Diagnostic Services Department with a separate entrance and registration, waiting, MRI, PET/CT, Nuclear Medicine, Cardiology, and Ultrasound areas adjacent to existing hospital diagnostic spaces.

A primary element of the design is compliance with HIPAA requirements, providing all patient registration and treatment spaces in individual rooms.