Community Health Westfield Hospital
Community Health Network is expanding acute care services into Westfield, Indiana, with the development of a new medical campus that will include a community hospital and multi-specialty medical office building. Guidon led healthcare planning, architecture, interior design, and structural engineering on this building, which is expected to open by late 2026.
The finished hospital will have the capacity for 112 patient beds with shell space for an additional 64 patient beds. The hospital will provide a robust surgery and imaging department throughout its seven floors, totaling 500,000 square feet. Inclusive of an embedded ambulatory surgery center, it will bring 11 new operating rooms, four procedure rooms, and two catheterization labs to the community. The Community Health Westfield Hospital will be a Level 3 Perinatal Center of Excellence with a dedicated mother/baby floor. Additionally, the hospital intends to grow into Community Health Network’s flagship Orthopedic Center of Excellence.
The Guidon healthcare design team partnered with Community’s leadership to help bring this vision to life. Incorporating new construction, renovation, and expansion added to the project’s complexity. Guidon collaborated with stakeholders and key user groups to revise and refine the space program, proforma analysis, budget, and overall logistics of the hospital campus. We engaged top subject matter experts to ensure the campus design positioned the new hospital for success in delivering holistic patient care.
Incorporating LEAN planning
Pull planning was a key part of Guidon’s LEAN design process for this project. This collaborative planning method starts with the end goal of the project, and requires the participants to work backwards to identify key tasks and project milestones. Using this system sets the project team up for success in terms of efficient resource allocation, and helps when the project has an expedited schedule. Guidon’s team hosted two pull plans: one with the internal team and one with the combined design and construction teams.
The pull planning exercise enabled the Guidon team to host a full scale “Cardboard City” mock up with user groups. Space within the existing office building was sectioned into different “care areas,” and allowed users to visualize and test the environment before construction. This exercise gathered months worth of information in a week as users tested their key processes to ensure patient care needs will be met in the allocated space. In several instances, processes were challenged; however, being able to work in a three-dimensional environment allowed the stakeholders and the design team to reach thoughtful and practical solutions.