New Parkland logistics building nears completion
Support services will be housed in facility
Construction of the 231,419 square-foot logistics building located adjacent to the new Parkland hospital is nearing completion.
Construction of the three-story facility, which is connected to the hospital through a tunnel in the basement, began in August 2013 and is scheduled to be completed this month. The building will house the Dallas County Hospital District Police Department, Materials Receiving and Distribution (MRD), Information Technology Support as well as a back-up space for IT equipment, the trash and linen system, Environmental Services, clinical engineering, medical equipment storage and general storage areas.
“The logistics building is where a number of the ‘off-stage’ services begin and end,” said Lou Saksen, Senior Vice President, New Parkland Construction. “For example, all of the supplies that are needed on the units will be delivered to the logistics’ dock and then dispersed to the areas that need them.”
The same is true for the massive amount of linen the 870-bed hospital uses in a day. Sheets, pillow cases, blankets, towels and other linens will be washed, dried and readied in the massive linen department in the basement of the current hospital and delivered to the logistics building for distribution through off-stage elevators of new Parkland.
The on-stage, off-stage design of the new facility is one of the components designed with patients and visitors in mind.
“Gone are the days of sharing elevators and hallways with equipment and supplies,” Saksen said. “It’s the same method made famous by Disney theme parks. If you think about it, you’ve never seen employees coming and going to work, or supplies being wheeled through a park. All of the staff and supplies move through ‘off-stage’ tunnels and elevators. It will be the same at new Parkland. Visitors will no longer have to share the same elevator with carts of supplies or bins full of trash.”
Along with the on-stage, off-stage process, the new Parkland is designed with patients in mind. There is a patient-centered healing environment with more windows and natural light, an evidence-based healing component of contemporary hospital design which combined with a quieter environment will enhance the healing process.
Parkland officials are hoping to obtain LEED Gold certification for the building. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design consists of a suite of rating systems for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings, homes and neighborhoods.
The new Parkland hospital received a temporary certificate of occupancy from the city of Dallas in July and is scheduled to open to the public in 2015.
For more information on new Parkland construction, please visit: www.parklandhospital.com/newparkland.
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