CSHQA completed the expansion and renovation of Building 67 on the historic Boise VAMC campus. The building was originally built in 1931, with subsequent additions, and serves as one of the main hospital buildings on the campus. The 6,000 SF addition and 15,560 SF renovation expands and updates the existing medical step-down unit and inpatient psychiatric unit. It also provides shell space on the second floor for later improvements to house medical clinic and administrative spaces. Work was implemented in multiple phases to minimize disruption and impact to patients and staff.
The addition, which infills an open area between two existing wings, allows for the reconfiguration of the second- and third-floor medical and psychiatric to enable more centralized nursing and support functions. New patient rooms on the third-floor step-down unit were reconfigured to be single-patient rooms that allow for defined patient, staff, and family areas, including a sleeper chair in each room and private bathroom with showers.
The inpatient psychiatric ward creates a more home-like atmosphere while still providing a safe environment for individuals. Rooms are a mix of single- and double-patient rooms. Each has a private bathroom with shower. The new configuration provides for direct visual connection to the nursing station to house patients with a higher acuity level. Both wards are designed with the latest VA guidelines to provide for the unique needs of female veterans.
Mechanical systems were augmented and updated to provide for better ventilation and patient comfort. Additional cooling capacity was added to the building to allow for better redundancy of systems to further ensure patient comfort if one of the rooftop chillers were to fail during a period of high demand. Electrical and communication systems were also updated, and capacity expanded to allow for better integration of medical technology within each ward, including the installation of a new paging system that is compatible with the new system implemented within the Boise VAMC campus.
