New bed tower reaches maximum height

With a twirl of her left hand, Baptist Hospital East President Sue Stout Tamme signaled the crane operator to loft the final piece of iron in the hospital’s eight-story bed tower.

Construction workers, hospital employees and board members clapped and cheered as the steel beam was hoisted into place and secured by two waiting ironworkers.

The June 1, 2007 “topping out” ceremony marked that the building had reached its maximum height. To celebrate this milestone, the final piece of iron was hoisted into place with a small evergreen tree (called a Christmas tree), an American flag and the Commonwealth of Kentucky flag.

Hospital officials involved in the project – plus representatives from BE&K Building Group (the construction managers), FabArc (steel fabricators), Group Steel (steel erectors), Engberg Anderson Design Partnership (architects) and others -- signed the beam.

The project includes some 3,258 steel beams and 272 columns of steel.

The new bed tower, which is visible from the Watterson Expressway and Interstate 64, will encompass 275,000 square feet, spanning eight floors with 144 all private rooms and eight additional surgery suites.

Completion is eyed for October 2008.

Special features include private patient rooms of nearly 400 square feet (double the size of current private rooms) with handicapped-accessible bathrooms; only 24 rooms on each nursing unit; two specially-equipped rooms on each floor for larger patients; kitchenettes and counseling rooms connected to family waiting areas on each floor and hotel-like touches including wood floors, cloth shower curtains, flat screen TV and a cushioned twin-bed width window seat designed for an overnight guest.

Nursing units moving to the new building will be Oncology, Orthopedics, Women’s Health, Neurosciences and one Medical/Surgical unit.

Estimated cost is $130 million, including equipment and furnishings.