ASHE celebrates resilience and innovation with health care design and construction awards

CHICAGO — The American Society for Health Care Engineering (ASHE) has announced the winners of the 2024 Vista Awards, which recognize outstanding innovation and collaboration in the health care design and construction field. The Vista Awards are presented annually by ASHE and the American Hospital Association (AHA) to project teams that work together to develop and maintain safe, quality health care environments; demonstrate effective and efficient communication; and rely on data-based decision-making processes.

This year, ASHE congratulates the project teams behind the Inova Fairfax Medical Campus Tower Operation Room Renovation, in Falls Church, Va., who took home the 2024 Vista Award for Renovation; and the Hackensack University Medical Center Central Utility Plant, in Hackensack, N.J., which earned the 2024 Vista Award for Infrastructure.

Inova Fairfax Medical Campus is a 900-bed community hospital serving a broad swath of northern Virginia and the largest hospital facility in the Inova Health System. This project set out to modernize the facility’s premier 30-room operating suite with state-of-the art equipment and a new layout that improves staff and patient workflow by increasing operating room sizes and reorienting the unit’s floor plan.

To help them realize this vision, Inova engaged HITT Contracting, which completed a total overhaul of the building’s mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems to support new surgery equipment. The project team followed a phased approach to updating and standardizing the facility’s operating rooms, allowing the hospital to continue delivering life-saving care while logging zero recordable incidents throughout the project’s 48-month timeline.

The Hackensack University Medical Center’s Central Utility Plant services the flagship academic medical center within Hackensack Meridian Health. The project team behind the new plant, which consisted of RSC Architects; Concord Engineering; Langan Reuther + Bowen; Page; Stantec; and Blanchard Turner Construction, took extensive measures and leveraged cutting-edge technology in the planning phase to ensure continual operation of the hospital’s critical systems during construction and optimize the plant’s design.

The new facility is a paragon of resiliency, built to withstand unexpected utility conditions and weather events. Its substation houses transformers that can support increased loads; its new chiller plant and generators can cover 93% of the expected load during an extended utility outage; and its upgraded steam system reduces operating costs while optimizing maintenance conditions and efficiencies.

The 2024 Vista Award winners will be recognized at the International Summit & Exhibition on Health Facility Planning, Design & Construction (PDC Summit) March 17-20 in San Diego, Calif. The PDC Summit brings together thousands of health care planning, design and construction professionals annually to learn, network and share solutions with the goal of maximizing safety, health and operational outcomes in healing environments. This year’s PDC Summit sessions include keynotes by best-selling author Shola Richards, health care futurist Dr. Daniel Kraft and generative AI thought leader Dr. Radhika Dirks, plus a wealth of interactive sessions and peer-to-peer knowledge-sharing forums. The conference is also a hub for technological innovation in the health care design and construction field, anchored by an exhibition featuring hands-on demonstrations from cutting-edge solutions providers.

The Vista Awards are presented by ASHE. These specific awards recognize significant collaboration in creating optimal health care environments. The winning teams have exemplified outstanding teamwork in all stages of their health care project, from preplanning to the final reveal.

For more information about the Vista Awards, visit ashe.org/awards/vista.

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The American Society for Health Care Engineering (ASHE) is a professional membership group of the American Hospital Association. More than 11,500 members rely on ASHE as a critical source of professional development, information and advocacy, including representation on key issues that affect their work in the health care physical environment. For more information about ASHE, contact 312-422-3800 or visit ashe.org.