The Weitz Company completes the Aspen Birth Center
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Contact: Colleen Kilkenny
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THE WEITZ COMPANY COMPLETES ASPEN BIRTH CENTER
Opening marks the first major Aspen Valley Hospital addition in 30 years
Denver, Colo. – October 7, 2008 – The Weitz Company, a premier national contractor who has been working in Colorado for more than 53 years, announced today the completion of the Aspen Birth Center at Aspen Valley Hospital.
The Birth Center includes an expansion, which features four private labor/delivery/recovery rooms, four private post-partum rooms, one room for all aspects of the birthing experience, and a nurses’ station. The renovation of the old obstetrical unit has a nursery, ante-partum room for assessment and observation, education room, family waiting area, and sleep room for obstetricians and nurse midwives.
“Weitz has been our construction partner for the past five years and managed the Birth Center construction with such detail that we were able to stay focused on day-to-day facility management,” said John Schied, director of operations for Aspen Valley Hospital and project manager for the Birth Center.
The Aspen Birth Center at Aspen Valley Hospital delivers about three times more babies per year than when the hospital was built. In the fall of 2006, nine babies were in the newborn nursery at one time. “While that’s unusual,” said Cheryl Heffernan, RN, and manager of the Labor and Delivery department, “it was becoming more and more difficult to accommodate our patients. Our space issues are now resolved, and we are prepared to provide the highest quality of care for many years to come.”
Finish products were carefully selected for the facility to ensure longevity, beauty and cleanability. Flooring in the patient rooms, for example, is a high impact vinyl wood flooring, which holds up well to heavy traffic and patient beds, but maintains a soft patterned wood look. Weitz carefully coordinated installation of the flooring, as well as other finish products with the client, and took great care in covering finished surfaces until the facility was ready to be turned over to Aspen Valley Hospital for sterilization and use. Another high-end finish is the custom made headwalls in each patient room that consist of solid woods and sliding acrylic doors to conceal the medical gases and other functional aspects of the headwalls. These warm inviting finishes are accompanied by a full-size Jacuzzi tub in each patient bathroom, which has proven popular with the expecting mothers.
“The Birth Center is a perfect fit with Weitz because not only does it align with our core values and work/family balance, but it also fits into our niche of new and renovation healthcare construction on occupied campuses” said Bill Hornaday, President of The Weitz Company, Rocky Mountain region. “The completion of this project signifies a milestone is Aspen Valley Hospital’s legacy, as well as ours.”
Heery-HLM Design is the project’s architectural firm. DHM Design is a Carbondale firm providing consultation on the landscape architecture.
The Aspen Birth Center at Aspen Valley Hospital celebrated its grand opening this past weekend and is officially open for business today. The project represents Phase I of the hospital’s master plan. The remaining three phases of the plan are currently in the conceptual review process by the City of Aspen.
About The Weitz Company
Founded in 1855, The Weitz Company is a national full-service general contractor, design-builder and construction manager with 19 offices nationwide. The Rocky Mountain Business Unit has offices in Denver, Frisco and Glenwood Springs and has been in Colorado for more than 50 years. The company’s expertise includes office, retail, residential condominiums, tenant interiors, resort properties, parking structures, industrial, healthcare, education, government and mixed-use facilities. For more information please visit www.weitz.com.