Skagit Valley Hospital expansion

Location: Mount Vernon

Owner/developer: Skagit County Public Hospital District No. 1

Project team: Hoffman Construction Co., general contractor; Hoffman Structures, concrete contractor; KMD Architects, architect; ABKJ, structural engineer; Concrete Nor’West, ready-mix supplier

Cast-in-place exterior walls, floor beams and slabs were used to build the 222,000-square-foot addition to Skagit Valley Hospital.

The three-story addition was built on the north side of the existing hospital. It includes a 59,000-square-foot ground floor with emergency, day surgery, patient rooms, lobby and gift shop areas. The second floor is similar-sized but houses six operating rooms, 10 ICU beds, respiratory therapy and waiting areas. The top floor has 50,000 square feet of medical and surgical beds, inpatient rehabilitation and a birthing center.

Concrete was used for the project because of its superior noise and vibration characteristics over steel. Also, eliminating steel beams or girders in the ceiling space allowed better solutions for crowded mechanical and electrical systems.

Using exterior concrete walls eliminated the need for columns within the rooms.