Photo courtesy of NWCB Multitudes of windows bring light into the lobby of the patient care tower at Salem Hospital.

The newly completed Salem Hospital Patient Care Tower is a seven-story, 360,000-square-foot medical facility that serves as the hub of the hospital’s medical campus.

Hospital research has shown that design elements and architectural features tend to provide both the patient and family members with a sense of comfort and actually contribute to patient healing. One of those architectural features includes large expanses of glass that bring in the natural light and a view of the outdoors. Other details include more than 4.5 miles of intricate soffit work and expansive radius walls.

In addition to performing all of the framing, drywall installations and finishes, acoustical ceiling, fireproofing and Venetian plaster, Western Partitions helped establish a radiation shielding protocol. There was more than 20,000 square feet of lead-shielded drywall installed as part of the protocol. Also, all floor penetrations from piping, ducts, electrical conduits and equipment support were sealed against radiation leakage.

Judge’s comment: “Hospitals are designed to provide the patient and family members with a sense of well being and the architectural features have been shown to be an important factor in creating that sense of well being. The abundant architectural features of the Salem Hospital produced by Western Partitions are not only impressive aesthetically, but they work to convey the complexity involved in construction and finishing.”