The Texas Medical Center’s latest tower rises 12 stories and features more than 360,000 sq ft of medical build-out space, including suites for diagnostics, radiation therapy and 40,000 sq ft of conference and executive office space. Additional features include five MRIs, three linear accelerators, five CT scanners and four RAD machines as well as a surgery center with six operating rooms and a sterile processing center.

The tower incorporates natural lighting and balcony gardens; an ambulatory surgery center with 12 additional operating rooms and 10 new endoscopy suites; and ample onsite parking. An expanded cancer center will offer radiation therapy and other diagnostic and treatment services as well as multiple specialized oncology clinics and an infusion center. Among the tower’s new services are a pain center and a women’s center for diagnostic breast imaging.

Deliberate, phased scheduling and strict organization were crucial for this project’s success, as was maintaining hospital operations. The team staggered completion dates on the various medical program floors and completed a series of enabling projects to relocate telecommunications, medical gasses and underground power.

Photo courtesy Harvey | Harvey-Cleary

Building a connected eight-story cast-in-place parking garage over an existing active hospital loading dock required a staggered plan in three phases. During garage construction, the team had to quickly pivot and build a new underground hydronic piping system that serves the existing hospital since it had to be in place and commissioned before decommissioning the existing utilities and starting the foundations on a portion of the new garage. The phased approach ensured continuous access to the existing hospital dock.

O’Quinn Medical Tower’s design centered on a comprehensive care and “one-stop-shop” mindset. The consolidation of several outpatient services makes patient processes easier, with several floors designed so patients can have their entire treatment process on their designated floor without having to travel up and down the building.

As part of a comprehensive quality assurance/quality control program, the contractor and various trade partners built in-place mock-ups for review by the entire project team to establish craftsmanship standards prior to mass production.