Design and construction team selected to build new hospital

MIDDLETOWN-The largest community hospital project being considered in our region in over 20 years took a major step forward as Orange Regional Medical Center announced selection of the design and construction team for its proposed new hospital. The architectural, engineering and construction management companies all have extensive experience in hospital projects across the country. The new hospital team will consist of HKS for architectural services, Syska Hennessy Group for engineering, and Turner Construction Company as the construction management firm. The new hospital is slated to be built on a 61-acre site on East Main Street in Middletown near the Route 17 interchange at exit 122. Due to the lengthy design and approval process required, hospital officials expect to break ground in 2008 and open two to three years later. The team was selected by a committee of community members, medical staff and hospital administration, who based their decision on the companies’ reputations, track record, knowledge and expertise in the health care industry. For more than 65 years, HKS has provided architectural, interior design and planning services. The firm has received more than 80 awards for healthcare architecture, including 15 for modern healthcare design, and was ranked as the second largest healthcare architect internationally by World Architecture. Some of the hospitals that HKS has designed include South Jersey Regional Medical Center in Vineland, N.J.; M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas; Parker Adventist Hospital in Denver, Colo.; University of North Carolina’s Children’s Hospital and Women’s Hospital in Chapel Hill; and George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C. Syska Hennessy, based in New York, has more than 75 years of experience designing buildings that promote efficiency and flexibility for the future. An international leader in engineering, technology and construction, the firm was recently ranked as the largest specialty-engineering firm in the healthcare market. Recent engineering projects include The Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla; Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Mass.; Mayo Hospital in Phoenix, Ariz.; and New York-Presbyterian Hospital’s Greenberg Pavilion and Cornell Medical Center. Turner Construction Company has ranking first and second in all major segments of the building construction field. The company was named the nation’s leading builder of health care facilities by Modern Healthcare magazine. Its hospital projects have included The Cleveland Clinic in Ohio; Memorial Sloan Kettering and Mt. Sinai Medical Center in New York City; Harvard Medical School in Boston, Mass.; Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md.; and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Wash.