To increase access to healthcare services in the neighborhood near the Milwaukee airport, Nutex Health is developing a small-scale emergency department and inpatient facility. This facility type, a micro-hospital, is a way to provide medical care in underserved communities and provide an alternative to the potentially long waits for emergency care at major hospitals.
The new facility will have an emergency department with eight treatment rooms, an inpatient department with eight patient rooms, diagnostic imaging services, a pharmacy, and a laboratory. The facility will be the second in the state of Wisconsin operated by Nutex.
Since Nutex is based in the southern US, Zimmerman provided them with insights on the code and building requirements unique to Wisconsin. For example, Wisconsin code requires two fuel sources for hospitals, which isn’t typically done in warmer climates.
Zimmerman also facilitated the City of Milwaukee and DHS review process and successfully received approval and permitting from all entities involved. The team met with DHS and the City of Milwaukee early in the permitting process and maintained had constant communications throughout to ensure it went smoothly.
This project involved multiple bid packages released in series with design approvals, AHJ approval, and budget validations. As part of the construction process, Zimmerman led the selection of a Construction Manager partner for preconstruction planning. With the early integration of a CM partner, in parallel with phased bid packages and permitting alignment, the project was able to reduce the overall construction duration by three months.
