Dave Kohlman, vice president of facilities, said work is ongoing in a number of different areas, including the exterior skin, steel studding and sheetrocking. Much of the mechanical work has been done, providing controlled climate conditions for workers and materials within the erected structure.

As of Aug. 25, there were 545 workers on site, including 180 workers from Minot, 40 from other North Dakota locations and 325 from out of state, according to Trinity.

Kohlman and Randy Schwan, vice president for mission integration at Trinity, provided Rotary members with insights into how the new hospital will look once completed. The new hospital will have efficiencies and updates that will benefit both patients and staff, Kohlman and Schwan said. Foremost is a concept in which hospital staff function in back areas while visitors utilize hospital front areas. No longer will visitors encounter patients coming and going because those activities will occur on the back side.

For patients, Schwan said, “It will be a lot more quiet, more private. There will just be a lot more dignity.”

Submitted Photo Looking northeast, construction continues on a new hospital, with the back of the clinic building shown at top left in this photo from Trinity Health. At bottom left is the second-story parking area and ambulance drop-off garage that services the emergency center, accessible by the shown ramp. A helicopter pad also connects on the south side.

The 148 private patient rooms also will be designed for efficiency and patient comfort.

“The number of beds between the two facilities is not going to be a lot different but the way we deliver care is going to be hugely different,” Schwan said. “How we deliver care changes with this whole layout. Our current hospital today isn’t built for the kind of medicine that’s given today.”

Each room will be 198 to 202 square feet, which is larger than the current semi-private rooms. Each room will have its own bathroom with accessible showers.

“All these rooms are what we consider same-sided,” Kohlman said. “So when you walk into a patient room as the caregiver, you’re going to walk into the right-hand side of the patient every single time. Less errors, less mistakes. More expensive to build because by doing same-sided rooms you can’t put your bathrooms back to back to save on plumbing.”

Room walls also are angled to allow patients to view out a window or watch television without angling their bodies. Floors are color shaded to indicate patient zones, which indicate to visitors the space needed by staff to care for patients. Rooms will include an interior window that enables nurses on the hospital backside to check on patients without having to enter the rooms. Blinds can be drawn for privacy when needed.

Trinity’s experience with COVID-19 highlighted the importance of having an adequate block of negative-pressure rooms to keep air in those areas from mingling with air in other parts of the facility. Due to COVID-19, Kohlman said, Trinity re-visited its plans for negative-pressure capability to ensure an entire floor can become negative pressure with the flip of a switch.

The hospital’s emergency rooms will increase by 18 rooms to 35, with the goal of placing patients in rooms immediately rather than having them linger in a waiting area.

The facility includes a winter-heated drive-up ramp into a garage for indoor transfer of ambulance patients into the emergency center. Private vehicles also would use the ramp for patient drop-off and would have parking availability on that second level.

The ambulance garage can accommodate four to six ambulances at a time. The helicopter pad also will be three times the size of the existing pad.

There will be 14 operating room suites, with 12 for immediate use and two for future growth.

“They are incredibly large,” Kohlman said. “The code requires it. The volume of equipment that’s being put into these ORs is requiring rooms to be bigger. The State Health Department tells us how big the rooms have to be.”

Consolidation of operating suites into a single location is among the efficiencies associated with a new hospital, Kohlman and Schwan said.

Other efficiencies include establishing a warehouse on site for convenient access to supplies and installing a real-time locating system that tracks the location of portable equipment, allowing for quicker access. For the public, conveniences range from a retail pharmacy drive-through to device charging connections in patient rooms and visitor areas.

Kohlman said Trinity hired a contracting company that is tasked with ensuring technology connectivity. Trinity is exploring wayfinding technology that would enable visitors to find their way around the hospital with directions provided on their cell phones.

Kohlman also talked about the layout of the new hospital and clinic building. There will be separate entrances for service deliveries, clinic and hospital patient drop-offs, emergency room drop-offs and kidney dialysis unit access.

Unique features will be a separate exit for discharged patients and another separate exit from the morgue, with garage pickup, for the dignity of the deceased, he said.

The hospital and clinic each includes a sixth floor shell for future growth. The 42-acre campus also has 32 acres available for future expansion.

Because of the need to install and acclimate sensitive medical equipment once construction is completed, opening of the hospital isn’t expected to happen before the spring of 2023. Kohlman said Trinity has hired a contractor specifically to handle the moving process.

However, Kohlman noted, “The process of moving and planning the move has already started. It is an 18-month to two-year process just to plan the moves. It’s everything from moving equipment, moving patients, to decommissioning of our old properties and old buildings.”

He said groups of staff will be studying particular aspects of the moves and working out details to ensure smooth transitions for their departments.

Schwan said it is uncertain how Trinity’s staffing numbers will change with a new, efficient facility. Currently, Trinity is in need of staff and hopes a modern hospital will help with recruitment.

“We anticipate there will be growth, not reduction,” he said.

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Planning continues Sanford hospital in Williston

WILLISTON – Since signing a Letter of Intent earlier this year, the City of Williston and Sanford Health have been working out the details of an agreement related to a new hospital and clinic. When finalized later this year, the agreement will outline project timelines, operational responsibilities and financing.

The City of Williston will host a public meeting this fall to share updates on Williston Square and answer questions. A community board was created in April to provide planning and development oversight of Sanford’s Williston operations. It will serve as the first hospital board.

In addition to health care, Williston Square, an 800-acre development on the former site of Sloulin Field International Airport, includes plans for a civic center, shopping, restaurants and new residential homes and apartment buildings.