Methodist Hospital project builds to save lives

Posted : 10/05/2010

Patients travel from all over the world for life-saving skull and spinal surgery at Methodist Hospital.  It is important work.  And it could not be interrupted, even as Wilhelm Construction re-built the surgical suites.

Wilhelm Construction accomplished the precise task acting as general contractor working with a plan from Synthesis Architects of Indianapolis.

Wilhelm gutted seven operating rooms to bare walls and structural steel and rebuilt them as six larger neurosurgical suites.  Included in each suite: a steel overhead truss fabricated and installed by Wilhelm to hold surgical equipment within arm’s reach and off the floor.

Scott Gibbs, Wilhelm’s project manager, says, “The neat thing about this was the close relationship with Methodist.”

Wilhelm crews limited noise as neurosurgeons conducted delicate skull and spine surgery in adjacent rooms.  On the floor above, doctors and nurses treated newborns in the neo-natal intensive care unit.  Radiologists worked below the construction site.

Dr. John Kohne, Methodist Hospital’s chief operating officer, says, “Our surgery rooms are being equipped with the latest imaging technologies, remote viewing capabilities, steering devices and navigation instruments, so that our surgeons can make the best decisions for their patients and teach others around the country.”

Improving the surgery suites is part of a phased upgrade for Clarian Health and the Indiana University School of Medicine.

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