Project category: New construction & Remodel/Renovation (completed June 2006)

Chief administrator: George Mejias, Director of Design and Construction, (212) 639-8038

Firm: Granary Associates, (212) 768-8886

Design team: John J. Cummiskey, AIA, Principal-in-Charge; William F. Magness, Project Executive; James D. May, III, AIA, LEED Accredited Professional, Project Architect; Mahmoud Mehrabian, AIA, Project Manager (Granary Associates); Associate Architects and Interior Designers (KMD/Perkins Eastman)

Photography: Chuck Choi; Paul Warchol Photography

Total building area (sq. ft.): 72,000

Construction cost/sq. ft.: Not Released

Total construction cost (excluding land): Not Released

From the initial planning stages, the design team explored several alternatives for the new 21-room Interventional Operating Room Platform working hand-in-hand with nurses, physicians, surgeons, and anesthesiologists. The design evolved from a “central sterile core” concept with Operating Rooms positioned around the central sterile support area. The Operating Rooms, in turn, are encircled by a peripheral patient-transport corridor.

This planning model proved to be the most advanced in terms of sterile design, as well as patient satisfaction. To maximize this idea and its effectiveness, the final scheme created an entire surgical suite as a collection of five separate mini-suites, consisting of four to six operating rooms around each central sterile core.

Each of the 21 Operating Rooms features a robust communications system and Clinical Imaging Management System (CIMS) allowing real-time audio and visual communication between Operating Rooms and Pathology, as well as Radiology and other departments. Part of the CIMS and one it’s most dynamic features is the “Wall of Knowledge”—a state-of-the-art visual system comprised of four large, wall-mounted, flat-panel screens that display complete, real-time patient information available to surgeons during operation. The information is generated by diverse information systems, including physiological monitors and medical devices.