HMN Architects have designed Olathe Medical Center’s new obstetrics wing, called The Birth Place, located in Olathe, Kansas.

Olathe Medical Center, a part of Olathe Health, is a five-story acute care medical center. The hospital advocates the need to stay active and ahead of their community’s growing needs when it comes to healthcare. HMN Architects partnered with Olathe Medical Center to design a new, 109,000 SF four-story obstetrics wing, called The Birth Place, with a level II neonatal intensive care unit.

One unique design feature is an outside balcony and a family lounge on the NICU and postpartum floors. This allows the patients to get outside air without leaving the building. Each family lounge offers a kitchen and television area for respite, resembling an at-home atmosphere.

The second floor houses the NICU unit. The NICU unit has seven single-family rooms, which provide parents a home away from home. The hospital can add seven more additional single-family rooms in the future. Four “pods” are available for higher acuity babies. The third floor consists of the labor and delivery area. Along with fifteen new labor, delivery, and recovery rooms, the birth place will offer two state-of-the-art cesarean operating rooms and three recovery rooms.

The fourth floor houses the postpartum unit and a wellbaby nursery. There are currently twenty postpartum rooms with the ability to expand to twenty-seven. These well-appointed rooms offer space for the families while the mom and baby recover. Each room has a queen-size murphy bed allowing couples to sleep comfortably. To provide mom a relaxing recovery, most rooms have oversized jetted bath tubs. Each of these postpartum rooms offer a spa-like atmosphere.

The new tower provides flexibility for future growth. The hospital can potentially add four more floors vertically or one whole bay horizontally. On two levels, there is a shell space to allow for additional patient rooms as needed in the future.

The new expansion at Olathe Medical Center provides a new image to the hospital and campus. The hospital continues to grow and reach neighboring communities.

Design: HMN Architects
General Contractor: JE Dunn Construction
Photographer: Bob Greenspan Photography