ED Renovation: VA Medical Center, West Palm Beach, FL

Renovate Emergency Department

Client: VA Medical Center, West Palm Beach, Florida

Paradigm designed and renovated an approximately 15,000 SF area of the existing West Palm Beach VAMC Emergency Department, creating an ambulatory/emergency center in an east location of the medical center’s first Floor (Building 1). This area is ancillary to the existing Crisis, Detoxification, and CT Scan rooms.

This project replaced and expanded the utility systems necessary to make the remodeled space energy-efficient by current VA standards. Due to the proximity to the main hospital entrance traffic, several design considerations were made, including an entrance modification to incorporate travel path changes and additional security features, and an anti-ram device for the ambulance entrance.

The main programmatic issue to address was to unify the flow of the department. To resolve the flow issue, Paradigm created a design with a central core. A centralized patient processing and recovery area supports the efficient operations of the center, as well as nurse sub-stations as needed. The newly designed center also contains an environment where patients are evaluated and receive diagnostics, in order to assess risk prior to any procedures, treatment, transfer, or discharge. Patients in the ambulatory emergency center receive necessary pre-operative care and final patient safety monitoring, before moving into procedure suites. An OB/GYN Women’s Health room was also included in the Emergency Department design.

This renovation project is a major component of the facility’s plan to meet the demand for Ambulatory/Emergency Room care and prevent development of future backlogs in these highly needed services. Access to care was also improved.

Financial opportunities associated with the project included a reduced fee basis cost, improved staff utilization through better position management, increased opportunity for third-party reimbursement, DOD sharing agreements, consolidation of equipment and supplies usage, decreased cancellation of procedures, and proper preparation and overall care of patients.

Paradigm successfully completed this full-service AE contract in 2016.