Johns Hopkins Hospital to open new $1.1B patient care building

A new era will begin at the nation's top hospital in April 2012, when The Johns Hopkins Hospital opens its new $1.1 billion patient care building. The 1.6 million-square-foot facility erected on five acres is believed to be one of the nation's largest hospital construction projects. It includes two 12-story patient towers, 560 private patient rooms, 33 state-of-the-art, spacious operating rooms, and expansive new adult and pediatric emergency departments. The facility will also feature the most sophisticated diagnostic imaging equipment, such as an intraoperative MRI scanner and high-speed, low-dose CT scanners.

With healing gardens, soaring lobbies, a hand-picked art collection and cheerful, light-filled patient rooms, the new building is designed to provide a welcoming and caring environment to advance the healing process. Each patient room will have a private bath and sleeping accommodations for family members. Sound-absorbing features in patient care corridors, ranging from acoustical ceiling tiles to a quiet nurse call system, will promote a tranquil environment.

"The opening of our new patient care facilities will be a transformative milestone in the history of Johns Hopkins Medicine," says Edward D. Miller, M.D., dean and CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine. "For more than a century, patients have come to Johns Hopkins from throughout Baltimore, the nation and the world for the best possible, evidence-based, patient-centered care. Our new facilities will enable us to provide that excellent care with greater comfort and privacy for our patients and their families in a state-of-the-art environment," adds Miller.

During the hospital stay, patients, family members and visitors can experience hotel-like amenities, including valet parking and an interactive television network with Internet, movies, games and clinical team updates. Enhanced food-ordering options also will be available, made possible by the construction of a 30,000-square-foot kitchen with an array of high-tech equipment to supplement the existing hospital kitchen.

The Johns Hopkins Children's Center will move into one of the towers, which is named The Charlotte R. Bloomberg Children's Center, in honor of the mother of New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Charlotte R. Bloomberg died at the age of 102 in 2011. The other tower is named the Sheikh Zayed Tower, honoring the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who served as the first president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). His son, His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is the current UAE president, wanted to pay tribute to his father in this way.

The Sheikh Zayed Tower will house the full range of cardiovascular services, as well as neurology services and neurosurgery, labor and delivery and a wide range of surgical procedures, such as transplant, trauma, orthopedic and general surgery. A helistop will be located on the rooftop of the Sheikh Zayed Tower for patients who arrive by helicopter.

Both towers are joined at the base by an 8-story building, which includes operating rooms located on three floors and separate diagnostic imaging services for pediatric and adult patients. From the main floor, patients will enter the new Adult and Pediatric Emergency Departments featuring private treatment bays and a full array of radiology equipment to provide imaging services around the clock. Public areas will have a food market/garden bistro, a television studio for pediatric patients, a gift shop, a conference center and a guest services office.

"We are fortunate that generous and far-sighted visionaries have played a crucial role in fulfilling our dream of building these advanced, patient-centered facilities," says Ronald R. Peterson, president of The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System and executive vice president of Johns Hopkins Medicine, noting that philanthropic contributions have provided 36 percent of the funding for the new building. "We are also pleased that this project is providing jobs for 700 new employees, ranging from nurses, social workers and respiratory therapists to environmental services staff and security personnel," Peterson says.

The construction of the new patient care complex provided more than 4,700 jobs. Of those, almost 1,000 workers were Baltimore City residents and 280 lived in East Baltimore neighborhoods surrounding The Johns Hopkins Hospital.

The hospital's new landscaped main entrance, at 1800 Orleans Street, will be larger than a football field, providing ample space for vehicles to drop off and pick up patients. The entryway will be covered by a large canopy to shield people from the weather. All entrances to the hospital, including the Adult and Pediatric Emergency Departments, are located in this area for convenient patient access. The Orleans Street Garage across the street from the new building will be exclusively for patients and visitors. Two glass walkway bridges above Orleans Street connect the garage to the new building. A separate ambulance entrance away from the main entrance will provide privacy to patients arriving in those vehicles.