Minneapolis-based Allina Health is investing in what it sees as the future of care, across hospital, outpatient and virtual settings.
That includes the Richard M. Schulze Surgical and Critical Care Center at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, which opens to patients Aug. 29. The 620,000-square-foot center has 190 private patient rooms and advanced surgical suites and is the largest infrastructure project in Allina Health’s history.
The opening comes amid other moves across the system, including outpatient expansion and Allina Health’s pending combination with Sacramento, Calif.-based Sutter Health. As part of the proposed combination, the organizations have outlined plans to invest more than $2 billion in Minnesota and Western Wisconsin, including in ambulatory care, specialty services and digital capabilities.
Lisa Shannon, president and CEO of Allina Health, said the system’s hospital and outpatient investments are designed to work in concert.
“While the Richard M. Schulze Surgical and Critical Care Center is Allina Health’s latest inpatient investment, we’ve also invested in outpatient settings closer to where people live and work as both inpatient and outpatient care settings are needed equally to meet future care demands,” Ms. Shannon told Becker’s.
She pointed to recent outpatient additions that include three additional or expanded Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute locations, two additional Allina Health Cancer Institute locations, two new mobile imaging units for breast and lung cancer screening, one additional Allina Health Brain and Spine Institute location and three orthopedic urgent care clinics within existing urgent care sites.
“Tomorrow’s care demands require all inpatient, outpatient and virtual services work seamlessly together with facilities that are able to support the latest technologies,” Ms. Shannon said. “Our investments are and will continue to be focused, comprehensive and forward-looking.”
Allina Health is planning for future care needs at Abbott Northwestern Hospital.
“With an aging population and increased disease burden from cancer, heart and neurologic diseases, demand for treatment is expected to increase,” Ms. Shannon said. “With significant input from our physicians, nurses and care team members, the Schulze Building was intentionally built for advanced surgical care, and this investment in our community and region ensures we have the ability to support care for complex cancer, heart, brain and spine cases.”
The center was also designed to replace aging infrastructure and improve energy efficiency, Ms. Shannon said. The project was funded in part through charitable donations to the Allina Health Foundation, including a lead gift of $25 million from the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation. Mortenson was construction manager and HGA designed the building.
The building also brings a significant staffing need.
“While recruiting highly credentialed, top talent is a challenge for everyone in the healthcare industry, the prospect of working in a new facility with amenities built for the future of care in a system ranked among the best in the state and region, markets itself,” she said. “We expect to be fully staffed when we officially welcome our first patients on Aug. 29.”
Hundreds of care team members, community members and subject matter experts helped shape the building over the past decade, with clinicians involved throughout the process, according to Ms. Shannon.
Surgeons influenced technology and infrastructure decisions, including an intraoperative MRI system that moves between two surgery suites from the ceiling and an HVAC system designed to keep surgical teams comfortable while warming patients to support patient safety and infection prevention. They also weighed in on wall and floor surfaces to help mitigate risk.
Nurses identified features for patient rooms, including fall-risk monitoring technology, smart boards to improve communication among care teams, patients and families and pullout couches. A 27,000-square-foot rooftop garden on the fifth level provides outdoor space for patients, families and employees.
Ms. Shannon said she is particularly proud of changes that came from conversations with the surrounding community. Abbott Northwestern Hospital has served south Minneapolis for more than 140 years. As Allina Health’s flagship hospital, it serves the Phillips neighborhood, the broader Twin Cities metropolitan area and patients across the Upper Midwest.
“Among the many thoughtful decisions that went into this building, I’m really proud of the conversations we had with neighbors that resulted in numerous positive design decisions,” she said. “We set back the 10-story building so it wouldn’t cast a shadow on the neighboring middle school, introduced street lighting to make the area more walkable and added solar panels to our new parking garage that now deliver energy credits to 150 nearby homes.”
The work also included a new parking ramp and a central utility plant for heating, cooling and electrical power that Ms. Shannon said will cut the hospital’s carbon emissions by 10,000 metric tons a year. Mortenson’s Community Workforce Program hired local residents with no construction experience and trained them for construction careers.
“We also recognize our responsibility to be a good neighbor in a community that has experienced long-standing inequities and trauma in recent years, which is why ongoing community conversations were essential throughout this multiyear project,” Ms. Shannon said.
Asked what would tell her a year from now that the building has delivered on its promise, Ms. Shannon pointed to the patient experience.
“Ultimately, our true measure will be how patients rate us,” she said. “Our vision is to be their most trusted health ally, and the Richard M. Schulze Surgical and Critical Care Center is one step in our journey to be that for our community.”
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