Advocate BroMenn Regional Medical Center (Normal, Ill.) is a 224-bed community hospital serving central Illinois, with inpatient services on the Advocate BroMenn Medical Center campus and outpatient services located throughout the region.

Advocate BroMenn implemented a 2020 campus transformation plan that included updates to its building structure and design. VOA Associates Inc. was engaged to implement Phase I of this transformative vision. The Phase I design upgraded and expanded the hospital’s central plant, providing new parking facilities for staff and visitors, and modifying campus infrastructure to ease vehicular congestion and provide safer and more pedestrian-friendly access to the hospital. Architecturally, the goal of the expansion project was to provide a “fresh face” on the campus while complementing its existing campus counterparts.

Construction of the VOA project wrapped up in May 2012 and the new addition began receiving patients in June 2012. Construction cost was $32 million; the total project cost was $52 million.

Housed on two floors, the 79,000-square-foot tower includes the community hospital’s obstetrics, progressive care, and intensive care units. Collaboration with the hospital’s director of Lean operations resulted in a patient care process for obstetrics that accounts for the high C-section rate, while allowing unscheduled births to experience a single-room LDRP model.

On the addition’s first floor, the birthing unit features 30 private, home-like patient rooms, a Level ll special care nursery, two operating rooms for planned or emergency cesarean sections, and a dedicated triage unit.  

The second floor features 12 private, state-of-the-art intensive care rooms that are twice as large as the hospital’s previous rooms and allow caregivers full access to the patient. Additionally, there are 18 private progressive care rooms designed for neurosurgical and other high-acuity patients.Direct visualization into intensive care rooms supports patient safety. A dedicated corridor provides direct connection from ICU to surgical services.

The development has consolidated a number of healthcare units previously spread throughout the campus and also provides flexibility for Advocate BroMenn to expand vertically as the hospital services expand on the campus.