Excela Health Latrobe Hospital
Excela Health
Latrobe, PA
22,000 square feet
Burt Hill developed a ten-year facilities master plan for the hospital to address expansion and modernization for all departments. The concept for the renovated emergency department was integral to the master plan and involved the development of new facilities in the shell of the radiation oncology program, which had moved to an outpatient setting.
The project required a complete redesign of vehicular access to the emergency department to accommodate the drive-up and ambulance traffic. The existing decontamination facility was reoriented and incorporated into the new design. The program was developed based on the “multiple pods” organization concept. This allows excellent proximity of staff to the treatment rooms, as well as privacy for patients and their family. There are four zones to the program: triage and three self-sufficient patient care pods. Each care zone has access to centrally located imaging, X-ray, and CT equipment. There are 27 treatment rooms that are universal in capability to increase flexibility within the operation of the department. The pod concept allows the department to expand and contract during the normal daily volume cycles and keeps providers in close proximity to their patients. The HVAC system was installed to serve only this department, isolating the main facility from the department in the event of a contamination. In addition, the department has increasing negative pressure isolation zones to further isolate the various pods to aid in the control of airborne elements.
