After waiting more than a decade to build it, Methodist LeBonheu completed the $100-million Methodist Olive Branch Hospital ahead of schedule in June, just 16 months after breaking ground. The owner's application for a certificate of need had been rejected several times over the last 15 years until a revision in the state health plan allowed the new hospital to move forward.
The facility has 60 beds with shell-space capacity to expand to 100 beds. It includes four operating rooms that can be used for open-heart surgery as well as two cardiac-catheterization labs, an MRI, emergency services and a diagnostic and therapeutic cardiac-cath lab.
Turner Construction led work on the project, Mississippi's first new, licensed hospital in more than 25 years. The project team used several strategies to complete the work in just over a year, including integrated project delivery, lean construction methods, building information modeling and a site-specific plan that reduced communication obstacles.
Communication and transparency were at the center of this collaborative effort. Continuous, two-way collaboration virtually eliminated surprises and helped the team quickly resolve issues.
Turner utilized Last Planner/pull planning to coordinate specialty contractors, helping subs see how the various tasks interacted with one another and assisting in identifying potential conflicts.
Sustainable design elements include a heat pump system to support the hospital's HVAC system and specialized electrochromic windows located in the hospital's main entrance that automatically transition between clear and variable tint, providing control over the amount of light and heat entering the building.
The project is tracking LEED Gold certification.
Key Players
General Contractor Turner Construction Co., Brentwood, Tenn.
Owner Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, Memphis
Lead Design Gresham Smith and Partners, Nashville
MEP Smith Seckman Reid Inc., Nashville
