Issue 6: April 2012

The Surgery Waiting Room is under renovation from April-June and is being moved to the outpatient surgery waiting area.

Emergency Department doctors and residents toured the South Pavilion during the Doctors’ Day breakfast. The South Pavilion will have a new emergency department that includes more than 50 treatment rooms. To see more photos of the tour visit stmarymercy. org/constructionupdates.

Renovation Begins On Surgery Waiting AreaBeginning Monday, April 2, as part the South Pavilion project, the Surgery Waiting Room is being relocated to the Outpatient Waiting Room for two months due to renovations of the current space.

Enhancing the patient care experience, St. Mary Mercy is renovating its surgery waiting room to improve functionality and openness. It will add space to the waiting room as well as relocate consult rooms for privacy and efficiency. The renovation will also create a connection corridor to the South Pavilion for staff transferring surgery patients to the private patient rooms for the best patient care. The aesthetics of adding glass half walls will also be more inviting to the area and assist visitors with finding the waiting room.

For information regarding Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about the surgery waiting room renovation, please visit stmarymercy.org/constructionupdates.

To make a gift to the Generations Together

Campaign for the South Pavilion, call the

Development office at 734-655-2980.

South Pavilion By The NumbersDid you know? 225 gallons of paint was used on the third floor. That amount is just nearly more than half of what it takes to paint the outside of the White House.

Since the project started in spring last year, crews have logged more than 222,000 hours working on the South Pavilion.

The South Pavilion will have 512 vinyl clad wood doors and 55 hollow metal doors.

Construction Updates:Workers completed construction on the South Pavilion roof. The two-part roof system involves attaching two layers of insulation boards to the roof deck. The extra provision assists in making heating and cooling energy-efficient.

On the emergency department floor, crews continue door framework and “roughing-in” – the plumbing and electrical work inside the frame before drywall goes up.

Crews on the second floor continue to work on sound insulation, dry wall installation and painting of patient rooms.

On the third floor, workers are completing the tiling, painting, flooring, and ceiling work that includes installation of lighting, sprinkler systems, and cable trays.

Construction workers created a mock-up of a north campus semi-private patient room converted into a private room. Nursing staff members are giving feedback on the room layout and functionality, and crews are able to adjust necessary room specifications before renovation begins. The renovation of north campus semi-private rooms begins when the South Pavilion is complete.

Scan the QR code to view more photos of the South Pavilion construction during March.

Right: Workers finished the South Pavilion roof,

completing the enclosure of the building.

Top Left: Birch trees and other Michigan native grasses will eventually line the corridor from the south lobby to the new Emergency Center.

Middle Right: Michigan’s native grasses, cattail and horsetail, were also created by steel tree art creator NatureMaker.

Bottom Left: A NatureMaker team member works on a birch tree that will eventually come to the South Pavilion project. Each tree starts with a steel framework. The rough texture of birch tree bark is hand-sculpted.

Michigan’s Native Landscape Adds To South Pavilion’s Natural Healing EnvironmentIt will only take a short walk inside the South Pavilion to surround yourself in Michigan’s native landscape: towering birch trees and stately cattail and

horsetail plants will line the corridor between the South Lobby and the new Emergency Center.

These natural elements, though, are not from nature. The roughness of bark, the unevenness of leaves, and the authenticity of nature’s asymmetry were all carefully handcrafted to enhance the hospital’s natural healing environment.

“We wanted to soften the hospital environment, making it less clinical and more of a healing environment in touch with nature,” said Sarah Gilbert, Director of Strategic Capital Projects, St. Mary Mercy Hospital.

The corridor will have five birch trees that each stands 22 feet tall. The trees and the native grasses will be contained in planters lining the area. The area will have seating and natural light, giving a feel of a park in the middle of the city.

“It’s just going to help people, even for a moment, escape the typical anxiety and stress that comes with being in a hospital,” said Gilbert. “It’s a reminder that St. Mary Mercy ministers to healing the mind and spirit as well.”

NatureMaker, based in San Diego, hand-sculpted the artificial trees. Each tree starts with a steel framework and then other materials are sculpted to replicate the realness of nature. All the materials are fire-rated and primarily made of recyclable materials.

The trees are being created and assembled in the San Diego facility. Later this summer, the completed trees will be dismantled and transported by truck to Michigan. A NatureMaker team reassembles the tree by fastening the telescoping connections on site.

Follow construction updates online at stmarymercy.org/constructionupdates

or on Twitter@stmarymercy.