Late last month, Spring Valley Hospital broke ground on an 88,000-square-foot, four-floor patient tower to accommodate Las Vegas’ growing population.
“The southwest Las Vegas population continues to grow, and with it comes the need for more hospital capacity,” said Leonard Freehof, CEO/managing director of Spring Valley Hospital.
“We delivered almost 3,200 babies in 2014, so we’re expanding our women’s center. With our proximity to the Las Vegas Strip, we’re caring for both community members and tourists, and we need more room to accommodate them.”
The four-story tower will house all maternity and neonatal care with a dedicated entrance for all maternity patients and visitors.
There will be a medical and surgical nursing unit on the second floor, and shell space to expand inpatient nursing care will be located on the third and fourth floors.
The addition will provide three more labor and delivery suites; two neonatal intensive care unit beds; 18 post-partum beds with the ability to add 18 more as needed; 36 medical/surgical beds; and the capacity to add another 72 beds as needed.
The $37 million project will accommodate a larger capacity with the addition of inpatient beds, which is expected to reduce waiting times, according to Gretchen Papez, director of PR and media relations for the Valley Health System.
The project also includes a 24-bed observation unit for patients who aren’t ready to be discharged or admitted.
“Currently, our observation patients are located throughout the emergency department and various nursing units,” Freehof said. “With one centralized location, their physicians can quickly find them, continue to monitor them or order additional testing, and determine if they can go home or remain hospitalized for additional care.”
The observation unit, which will be adjacent to the emergency department, is slated for an October opening.
Birmingham, Ala.-based general contractors Brasfield &Gorrie are overseeing the entire project, which is the firm’s first in the state of Nevada.
According to Senior Project Manager David Craddock, the patient tower will be constructed in one phase and interior renovations will be made in multiple phases depending on hospital census and coordination with patients and staff.
“Job-site setup activities have already begun and the project team anticipates receipt of the building permit within the next few weeks,” he said.
Craddock added that construction to the patient tower is scheduled to be completed in December 2016.
Spring Valley Hospital is located at 5400 S. Rainbow Blvd., Las Vegas.
