DETAILS:

WESTCHESTER MEDICAL CENTER
NEW PATIENT CARE TOWER

100 WOODS ROAD
VALHALLA, NY
155,000 SF

MG Engineering was selected by HDR Architects and Westchester Medical Center to design the MEP/FP systems associated with their new building addition. Construction has begun on a new 155,000 GSF, 5-story building to serve 128 ICU patients. HDR designed a striking glass façade, making this building the focal point of the entire campus. The systems serving the new building are state-of-the-art in terms of flexibility, energy efficiency and occupant safety. Any and all patient rooms are capable of switching ventilation at the press of a button to convert from neutral to negative pressure if necessary. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals such as WMC have asked MGE to design such systems which can adapt to the introduction of any number of infectious patients, be it one patient, twenty or 128 in another pandemic. The project spawned other infrastructure upgrades such as the complete replacement of the main hospital’s emergency generators, while enabling the new upsized generator system to serve the new Patient Care Tower. The new building’s chiller plant is cross-connected and tied into the main hospital chiller plant in order to provide additional redundancy. An underground high pressure steam line was intercepted and tapped to provide a source of heating for the building. Constant volume “air valves”, similar to those used in laboratories, are fitted on the supply and exhaust ducts serving each of the 128 patient rooms, all in an effort to establish an offset of exhaust versus supply air rates when converting any room to negative pressure. Energy recovery coils are provided on all ventilation systems including hydronic components, pumps, and controls.

Client: Westchester Medical Center

Architect: HDR, Inc.