This 154,000-square-foot building addition to the existing Rockingham Memorial Hospital is the 2nd phase of RMH’s campus renewal plan. It adjoins the hospital on land formerly occupied by the hospital’s original 1912 building. Designed to accommodate the current and future emphasis on outpatient care, the fi vestory West Tower includes parking and an entrance/lobby atrium on the fi rst fl oor, with a consumer-oriented health library, pharmacy, kitchen, dining facilities and classrooms on the second fl oor. The fl oors above include a women’s educational center, labor/delivery/recovery and postpartum suites, outpatient surgery and recovery, pediatrics, and short-stay rooms. Due to restricted ground space on the campus, a heliport is located on the roof. Since the 1912 building, the hospital’s original structure, was historically signifi cant to the community, RMH decided to preserve the entrance portico for incorporation into the West Tower. The main portico structure was preserved on-site while it was refurbished for use on the front of the West Tower.

THE NIELSEN PARTNERSHIP

Rockingham Memorial Hospital set an aggressive schedule for the completion of the West Tower by mid-1998. The decision was made to take a fast-track approach, since demolition of the 1950s patient wing signifi cantly reduced the number of usable beds. Nielsen worked with the hospital to turn around the project in record time, phase the occupancy to meet the needs of the hospital, all while working within the occupied facility. As CM at risk, Nielsen was able to reduce the schedule by supplementing the subcontractors with our own concrete, masonry, steel erection, and finish crews.