North Valley Hospital
Whitefish, Montana
25-beds, 82,000 square feet
Construction cost: $17.5 million
Featured in Healthcare Design Architectural Showcase
Sometimes the most healing environment can be the one that greets us from outdoors. North Valley Hospital, a FHA 242 financed Planetree facility, was built specifically to take advantage of the natural beauty of Whitefish, Montana. Harmonizing with and harnessing that natural beauty became the heart of a patient-centered design that sought to provide direct views of Glacier National Park from all patient rooms.
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Patient-centered design elements.
Collaborating with a group of doctors, department heads, and an administrator passionately focused on putting their patients first is the kind of work that really inspires us. Our team focused three key elements identified as critical to patient care and healing. The first two were clarity of circulation for patients and staff, creating an overall sense of comfort and ease. Central to the project was the third element: creating an optimal patient room environment.
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A room with a view.
Room design was driven by surveys to better understand the diverse needs of the community's demographic mix of elderly and young professionals and research of precedents. Concepts were tested via construction of a full-scale model. The outcome was semi-private, or garden rooms, designed so each person has a private room next to a common bathroom, and access through French doors to a healing garden patio. Two-room areas are designed to balance privacy and the ability to communicate with other patients when desired. All rooms accommodate family members with full daybeds. Large windows look out on majestic Glacier National Park.
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A well-designed financing package.
JJCA was chosen not only for our community hospital design experience but for our extensive background in FHA 242 projects. Use of this program provided North Valley with the most cost effective financing option - by far - for their project. Working closely with their mortgage banker, Innovative Capital, we helped them streamline this rigorous, yet financially rewarding process.