Army Hospital Opens First Expansion in Three Decades
ATLANTA — The Winn Army Community Hospital is celebrating the recent completion of a new musculoskeletal wing, the hospital’s first major expansion since it’s opening more than 30 years ago.
The project was designed by Leo A Daly and constructed by McCarthy Building Companies. Both firms hold offices in Atlanta.
The $24 million, 65,000-square-foot Liberty Wing is the first of two phases with a total cost of $74 million. The first floor of the new wing houses physical therapy, occupational therapy, orthopedics and podiatry programs. Behavioral medicine and social work services occupy the second floor. Phase I also includes an expansion to the facility’s central utility plant.
“Our work on this project is particularly rewarding because it’s helping soldiers and their families,” said Michael Svoboda, vice president and manager of the project for Leo A Daly, in a statement. “And with its evidence-based-design and additions, this facility will continue to do so for the next 50 years.”
The additions to the hospital will seek LEED Silver certification and extend services to approximately 40,000 soldiers and active duty family members based at Fort Stewart. Due to Base Realignment and Closure and Grow the Army initiatives, the hospital is also expected to see an increase of 15,000 patients.
The name for Liberty Wing was chosen from an organization-wide naming contest. It was chosen from dozens of submissions because it speaks to multiple missions of the new wing.
“On the first floor, we are restoring physical liberty and the freedom of movement in our physical therapy and orthopedics sections. However, physical limitations are not the only challenges our soldiers and their family members face,” said Col. Kirk Eggleston, Fort Stewart Medical Department activity commander, in a statement. “The entire second floor is behavioral medicine and family therapy, where our dedicated professionals strive each day to liberate people from the bonds of depression, anxiety and PTSD.”
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Landscaped courtyards throughout the hospital will provide a calming and relaxing space for healing, while a new central atrium takes in natural lighting from the clerestory windows above and through the north-facing glass wall for the main interior walkway.
“One of the key commitments we make to our soldiers and our families is that we’re going to take care of you,” said Brig. Gen. Pete L. Jones, Third Infantry Division deputy commanding general for support, in a statement. “Nowhere is that more apparent than at the hospital. Whether it’s our wounded warriors who come here to be treated and healed, a young child who breaks their arm playing football or a soldier who redeploys with questions about behavioral health, as you walk into this hospital, you see that commitment and that next level of care that we promised our soldiers, our families and our veterans.”
Sustainable design features at the clinic include vegetative and highly reflective roofs, recycled materials, energy-efficient building systems and stormwater reduction systems.
Phase II of the project, which broke ground in March 2013, includes the construction of a two-story, 43,600-sqaure-foot addition that will include a new emergency department on the first level and administrative services on the second level. The phase also includes 55,000 square feet of renovations to family medicine, internal medicine, pathology, pharmacy, patient records, urology, nutritional care, security, business and legal offices and conference center.