Erlanger children's hospital vision begins to take shape

photo Members of the team called "Dream Big" discuss potential plans for a new children's and women's hospital at Erlanger. The team is one of two construction and architect groups shortlisted for the "Re-Imagining Erlanger Design and Construction Challenge."

IF YOU GOWhat: "Reimagining Erlanger," an unveiling of design and construction concepts for a new Children and Women's Hospital.When: Tuesday, Oct. 7 from 5:30 until 7:30 p.m.Where: Tennessee Aquarium IMAX 3D Theater.What's included: Heavy hors d'oeuvres and a cash bar will be available in the IMAX Theater lobby from 5:30 until 6 p.m. Presentations on the two renderings will start at 6 p.m. with a Q&A session after.How to attend: The event is free, but reservations are required. Reserve online at www.reimaginingerlanger.eventbrite.com. For more information, email contact Katie.Dolphin@erlanger.org or call 423-778-3989.THE TEAMSErlanger narrowed a large list down to two architects and two construction companies, then had them pair up into teams. All companies involved have had experience in creating children's hospitals.Team ChatalystArchitect - HKS Inc.Construction - McCarthy Building Companies Inc.Team Dream BigArchitect - Stanley Beaman & SearsConstruction - Gresham Smith and Partners / Turner Construction CompanySource: Erlanger Health System

A children's hospital should be the most important building in a city.

That's the doctrine of Bruce Komiske, the project executive overseeing the plans for Erlanger Health System's new children's and women's hospital.

A vibrant, top-of-the-line children's hospital isn't just good for kids and parents, he argues - but crucial for businesses recruiting in the region, or looking to locate here.

And in Erlanger's case, a new children's and women's hospital would not only be a new face for the public hospital, but could be a catalyst for revitalization in downtown's Third Street corridor.

"This is not just plopping down a new building," said Komiske, who has overseen children's hospital building projects across the globe. "It's re-imagining the entire health education district of this city."

That's why Komiske and other Erlanger leaders say they want Chattanoogans involved in the early planning stages for the new hospital, before an architect is selected or a schedule is set.

The vision needs to be infectious, they say - on par with dreams for the Tennessee Aquarium and the Creative Discovery Museum.

On Tuesday, the public is invited to the unveiling of renderings created by two teams of designers and builders that are competing for the project bid. They want families to share their thoughts, critiques and dreams of their own.

"This will be the community's children's hospital, and we want the community to take ownership of it,'" said Dr. Alan Kohrt, CEO of T.C. Thompson Children's Hospital at Erlanger.

The whole visioning process has been somewhat unorthodox since then-new CEO Kevin Spiegel announced it last year, said Julie Taylor, chief development officer for the Erlanger Health Systems Foundations. .

"You typically don't come out of the box with the idea before you've raised a portion of the money and have the campaign all buttoned up," she said. "It's pretty bold and a little uncomfortable to come before the community before we have these answers."

The two design and construction teams, shortlisted after interviews with 25 architectural and construction firms, have been tasked with envisioning a new icon in Chattanooga's skyline. Komiske challenged them not to create a generic hospital, but a building that captures the city's "essence."

Komiske and the committee members will not see the two teams' pitches until Tuesday's event. But Erlanger has outlined the basics of what's wanted.

The complex will include an all-new inpatient children's and women's hospital, likely located at Third Street and Hampton - though that is not definite.

A bridge over Third Street will connect to a children's and women's outpatient medical center across from the hospital. The present children's outpatient care space could become a new stroke and neuroscience center.

The teams have had several weeks to capture the essence of the city and fuse that into their designs for a "Chattanooga building." They have taken hundreds of photographs, toured the Creative Discovery Museum and collected demographic information.

The Erlanger committee has been working with cultural organizations across the city - especially the Creative Discovery Museum, which is helping form ideas about the kind of environment desired for the hospital.

The goal is to create a place children will not be scared to go, but a place "where kids' eyes light up when they enter the lobby," said Komiske.

There is one feature Komiske insists on having: A full-size steam engine in the hospital lobby.

It needs to be a centerpiece in whichever design is picked, he says. Not only as a nod to Chattanooga Choo Choo lore, but to pay homage to French railway magnate Baron Frederic Emile d'Erlanger, who donated $5,000 in 1889 for the creation of the hospital that became Erlanger.

"I don't know where we're going to find a steam engine. But we will find a way to get it," Komiske said.

From a clinical standpoint, the hospital will maintain roughly the same 121-bed count it has now, Kohrt said. But rooms will be private - even in the neonatal intensive care unit. Committee members want rooms to be bigger, with more comfortable accommodations for parents who must spend the night.

And Kohrt wants the building to be a hub for children's health education. In a region battling an epidemic of childhood obesity and Third World infant mortality rates, the new hospital needs to be "a physical symbol, but also provide resources to address those huge population health issues we have," he said.

THIRD STREET REVIVAL

Hospital leaders say the new hospital could also be an anchor that helps transform the Third Street block between Hampton Street and Central Avenue - mainly a row of old medical buildings - into a destination.

"People don't come down here unless they need to," said Komiske. "People don't like to come down here at night, and that's largely because no one lives here. It's dead, other than the ambulances going in and out."

He envisions a bustling corridor. On one end would stand a new building for the University of Tennessee College of Medicine-Chattanooga. Street-level doctor's offices would be interspersed with retail and umbrella-canopied sidewalk cafes behind wide, tree-lined sidewalks. Down the street, maybe a hotel. And on the upper floors of the buildings would be apartment space - in high demand by medical students and medical residents.

Erlanger owns only a few of the properties across Third Street. To redevelop those lots will take significant buy-in from the owners and from investors.

The Erlanger committee said property owners mostly have "responded positively" to the initial idea. But there are still plenty of details to iron out.

"We are trying to make the argument that there will be more value if you try to market that block as a whole," Komiske said.

BUILDING SUPPORT

The hospital construction will take at least six years, hospital leaders say, and getting started depends on raising tens of millions of dollars.

The group sees money as one of its biggest challenges. Even though Erlanger is the region's safety-net hospital, it "has never had a real culture of philanthropy," said Taylor.

Part of that is Erlanger's status as a public hospital, giving some people the impression that it is largely funded with tax dollars - though it is not. And second is Erlanger's recent rocky financial history. The hospital lost millions between 2011 and 2013.

"When we started this process, when we have asked for money in the past, people would say, 'You're in the red. What are you doing talking about building a new children's hospital?'" Taylor said.

But the hospital is heralding this past year, its first full year under Spiegel, as a "turnaround year." Erlanger ended the year with $18 million in operational revenues - mostly from new access to a pool of federal money for public hospitals.

Along with the Third Street plans, the hospital has just announced a $40 million expansion at its Erlanger East campus.

The improved financial situation dramatically helps credibility as the hospital's foundation revs up its campaign for the children's hospital, Taylor said.

And it will not be a traditional campaign, said Komiske.

"This is not going to be the kind of situation where you will have donor who steps in, pays for it all and we're done with it. This is going to be very grassroots," said Komiske. "We will be wanting to get everyone involved."

"By everyone we mean everyone," said Kohrt.

Contact staff writer Kate Harrison Belz at kbelz@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6673.

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