Methodist Olive Branch Hospital

Being the first LEED for Healthcare Gold certified inpatient facility in the U.S., the project demonstrated a strong response to Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare’s stated desire for a sustainable, cost effective facility.

Methodist Olive Branch Hospital, located in the northern Mississippi town of Olive Branch, is a 5-story, 206,000 GSF, 100-bed hospital owned by Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare (MLH). Designed to provide high quality emergency, lab, imaging, and inpatient services, the project was built with expansion in mind, including space for future services such as general and minimally invasive surgery, orthopedics, maternity, cardiology, cancer care, and others.

 

Using the Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) approach, the team was able to manage costs as the project progressed. The total project cost came in under the $100 million limit, and the actual construction cost came in under projected levels.

 

The facility includes a number of notable achievements, including significant reductions in equipment process water usage; PBT source reduction through use of low mercury lamps, low/no lead plumbing fixtures, solder, wire/cable and roofing/flashing products; zero lead/cadmium paints; and extensive use of low/no VOC finishes, adhesives, and sealants. The project also achieved the maximum number of Innovation and Design credits through a combination of integrative project planning and design, and pilot and exemplary performance credits.

 

The patient experience was a primary driver for MLH in the development of this project. Special attention was paid to feedback from patients and families, beginning at initial occupancy. Features such as reduced outdoor light pollution into patient rooms and dedicated areas of respite for patients, visitors, and staff with views of vegetated and wetland space, which were maintained and protected during the construction process, were key design elements to improve the hospital’s patient and family experience. After construction, thermal comfort surveys were also distributed to building occupants in order to determine if any corrective actions were needed.

 

Using a combination of LEDs, T8, and T5 lamps, the project was designed with a building-average lighting power density of 0.83 Watts/ft2. The project’s HVAC system uses ground source heat pumps to handle zone-level cooling and heating loads, while dedicated outside air systems handle the latent loads of the ventilation air. The hospital was designed to achieve 35% energy cost savings over a baseline building designed to ASHRAE 90.1-2007, Appendix G and is projected to achieve a Site Energy Utilization Index (EUI) of 122 kBtu/ft2/yr, which is 46% below the national average.