A Miron Construction Case Study: Canal View – Houghton County

Posted on Dec 17, 2019 by Rob Chartier

“Miron’s patience and flexibility allowed us to complete a construction project with minimal disruption to our residents’ homes. We seamlessly made changes on the go which Miron handled with the upmost professionalism. – KIMBERLY SALMI, Canal View – Houghton County

The client
Canal View is a 197-bed skilled nursing facility in Hancock, MI, that provides 24-hour extended care primarily to the residents of Houghton County. They provide long-term care, memory care, and short-term rehabilitation services. Long-term care offers professional services including 24-hour licensed nursing care, dental, dietary, optometry, podiatry, social services, and a wide array of therapy services. Memory care services include a specially designed, secured environment for residents with early to middle stages of Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. The short-term rehab unit at Canal View provides post-hospital rehabilitative healing and recovery in a suite with beautifully appointed private rooms, private baths, and dedicated living and dining areas.

The goal
To provide upgrades to the former Houghton County Medical Care Facility, including extensive interior renovations throughout the entire facility’s common, staff, and residential spaces. A two-story vertical expansion of the facility was completed, providing a new satellite kitchen, dining and lounge areas, and a new patio. These improvements were undertaken to modernize this aging facility. This project gave the caregivers at Canal View an environment to provide the very best personal and dignified care to their residents who want to stay in their local area for extended care.

The challenge
Our team was challenged to execute the construction of this project with minimal disruption to the facility’s ongoing operations and with little to no reduction in resident census. The first hurdle was to plan the vertical expansion and to construct it before the Houghton County winter set in. The structural engineering analysis revealed that columns and footings of the existing building were inadequate to support the new construction above. Fortification of these structural members would require vacating the existing building, and this work would have forced winter construction. The Miron team quickly recognized that the column and footing upgrades were only necessary to accommodate a fully occupied building and not an empty one; this revelation allowed the project team to construct the vertical expansion during favorable weather and to perform the structural work below in a phased approach to avoid interrupting any care operations. The remaining remodel work was performed in 18 phases, so that no more than three resident rooms were under construction at any one time.

The results
The Miron team was hard-pressed to create a schedule that met Canal View’s need to preserve nearly all of their bed capacity and to avoid the expense and disruption associated with winter construction as well as retrofitting of structural elements. The project team collaborated intensely with caregivers, administrators, staff, and engineering consultants to devise a successful plan. Implementation of the plan was very fluid and required flexibility on all sides. Daily communication was necessary, as planning for resident room turnover was not 100% predicable and was ultimately driven by the needs of the residents. Projects of this type must always be planned with the safety, comfort, and convenience of the residents, first and foremost.

PROJECT PROFILE
Owner: Canal View – Houghton County
Architects: Hooker DeJong, Inc. and U.P. Engineers and Architects
Project Cost: $8,535,000
Building Area: 9,000 SF Addition | 26,000 SF Renovation
Completion: August 2018
Delivery Method: Construction Manager

 

 

 

 

About Rob Chartier

As vice president of healthcare for Miron Construction, Rob Chartier is responsible for developing, directing and guiding Miron’s strategic healthcare vision as well as its construction efforts, through business development, the implementation of pre-construction services and the creation and maintenance of client relationships within the healthcare marketplace. Rob is currently serving as the first Chairman of the Lean Construction Institute – Wisconsin Community of Practice, whose purpose is to build knowledge of lean in the architecture, engineering and construction community and to create a regional forum for practitioners of lean to share their experiences and help other organizations in their pursuit of continuous improvement. Rob has worked in the healthcare construction industry for the past 20 years and is a graduate of the University of Colorado – Boulder where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Architectural Engineering as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics. He is also a licensed Professional Engineer.

Get in touch with Rob Chartier
View all posts by Rob Chartier
[email protected]

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