The heat is on and the interior climate of the Children’s hospital of Michigan Specialty Center - Detroit is now stable. That’s a good thing with winter settling in. The heat has helped to dry the interior concrete and other construction materials so work could progress.
Most of the interior walls are up. The basement and first floor drywall (final covering before paint) is complete and interior painting has begun. The crew is finishing the drywall on the remainder of the second and third floors, and is beginning drywall on the fourth floor. Workers began installing terrazzo flooring (a hard surface made from a cement mixture with pretty stones mixed into nice patterns) on the second level, which is where they start laying the flooring, and that is proceeding well. Some hospital staff have done walkthroughs of the building to understand and create a plan for optimizing flow for electronic medical record (EMR) work stations on wheels (WOWs).
The steel for the canopy at the building’s east side entrance was built recently and its glass cover will go up in February. Work is progressing on the elevators and as soon as they’re operational, the buck hoist, used to raise materials to the upper floors, will be removed from the south side of the building. That should happen in the next few weeks. Once the buck hoist is removed, the glass curtain wall, or exterior glass covering, will be completed.
Paving is finished, and proposals for site work – landscaping and fencing – are now being reviewed.
The DMC has taken very seriously and exceeded its commitment to Detroit and Wayne County to hire local and minority workers in the construction of this facility. The Children’s Hospital of Michigan Specialty Center - Detroit is slated for completion in April 2012. Like all of the Children’s Hospital of Michigan outpatient specialty centers in greater metropolitan Detroit, this facility will house a variety of services in expanded, more convenient and accessible space with ample parking.
Under the direction of Children’s Hospital Art Advisor, Grace Serra, the new building will be decorated with art created by children, to appeal to children and their families. The new facility will enable Children’s Hospital to decompress services from the main hospital and offer expanded and more convenient and accessible care for patients and families.