Delivering a New Era of Healthcare for the Fort Bliss Community

From the extreme desert of the west Texas city of El Paso, a new era in medical care for the Fort Bliss Military community has risen. The picturesque mountains will provide a scenic backdrop for patients and staff of the new William Beaumont Army Medical Center.

The new facility was turned over last month by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Fort Worth District, to move into the outfitting phase of the project. This will continue the legacy of care for military personnel and their families and the community that began in 1921. An increase in population resulting from Army Base Realignment and Closure and Army Grow the Force initiatives required a modern medical campus for the provision of inpatient and outpatient care to the Fort Bliss beneficiary population. The 1.13 million-square-foot, world-class healthcare campus replaces a facility nearing 50 years in age that is much smaller and located on a constrained site away from major troop populations.

Innovative Design Commitment

The commitment of HDR’s design team was to attain and achieve the long-term goal of a world-class medical facility in support of our warriors and their families. The new campus consists of a seven-story hospital, five supporting buildings, including an inpatient hospital, outpatient clinics, administrative building, clinical investigation building and a central utility plant. The medical center will also include 135 hospital beds, 10 operating rooms and 30 specialty clinics. Some of the features include highly absorbent ceiling tiles and flooring surfaces in addition to ceiling-mounted patient lifts to ease stress on the bodies of both patients and medical personnel which will help reduce injuries. All patient rooms are private, with space for family members.

Key Features

• Three distinct building components are organized and defined functionally and programmatically as Inpatient, Outpatient and Administration and Education buildings: The hospital building is to the west (seven floors + basement); two clinic buildings are north of the circulation spine (six floors + basement each) and an Education and Administration building supporting a graduate medical education program (four floors + basement) is located south of the spine. 
• The Clinical Investigations Building is planned as a freestanding building, separated from the patient care functions of the facility, because of the sensitive nature of its research. The facility is proximate to the CUP in order to facilitate deliveries by sharing the truck maneuvering area between the two buildings. This area will be visually screened from the rest of the campus. The building is organized as a two-story building, with all functions pertaining to animal holding located on the first floor and administrative and laboratory functions on the second floor. The vivarium includes holding rooms for large animals, and small animals, operation rooms, dirty and clean cage wash rooms , and other support facilities. It was designed to comply with the NIH Design requirements manual and the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care accreditation. There is a single point of entry at a glass-enclosed lobby located at the south end of the building facing the hospital.  The loading dock at the north end allows delivery of animals directly into the animal holding rooms.  A large storage room for the Emergency Management Plan, which supports the hospital, also has access to the loading dock.
• Twelve modular clinic floor plates are highly flexible, adaptable and readily navigable by public and staff.
• An economic study of sustainable technology design alternatives to identify those that would reduce energy consumption and life cycle cost, transition to renewable energy, reduce potable water, divert waste from the landfill and improve health outcomes for patients at the LEED-certified facility.  Sustainable Return on Investment framework was used to assess sustainable technology alternatives.

World-Class Care

The development of the Fort Bliss Hospital Replacement as a world-class facility is rooted in the Congressional mandates of 2008 and 2009 to ensure that all Department of Defense facilities address the unique needs of the active duty and retired personnel.

In order to ensure world-class outcomes for the facility design and operational concepts, a criteria checklist was used to track and confirm HDR’s success throughout the development of the project. Design criteria addressing patient and staff safety, infection control, care coordination, technology integration, as well as visibility, workplace efficiency, and ways to improve patient outcomes were reviewed, discussed and implemented with great success.

The HDR project team sought to create a state-of-the-art, world-class military medical center that is sustainable, adaptable and flexible to support the required healthcare delivery. Finishes, both exterior and interior will include native stone, as well as colors, patterns, and textures that are akin to the culture and geography of the area, and spacious windows allowing abundant light deep into the buildings. This also allows for nature and garden views along with the nearby Franklin Mountains. Evidence-based design and patient/family centered care concepts were incorporated into the aesthetically pleasing design with environmental context in harmony with the Fort Bliss and El Paso communities. The best strategies in hospital construction and patient care such as evidence-based design, leadership in energy and environmental design guidelines, and the military’s new gold standard for medical facilities, “world-class design” were incorporated.

"This facility highlights the best in USACE engineering and construction," said Brig. Gen. Paul. E. Owen, Commander, Southwestern Division. "Together, with our many partners, we have incorporated the principles of quality engineering, quality construction and quality care to deliver a world-class facility to our Soldiers and their families."