HGA took on the task of completing the UC Davis Medical Center Children’s Surgery Center with a new technologically advanced design that allows patients to create their own sense of calm in Sacramento, California.

A new state-of-the-art children’s surgery center recently opened on the UC Davis Medical Center campus in Sacramento. Designed by HGA, the 32,900 square-foot center is one of many next steps in a multi-year, multi-phase seismic compliance masterplan for the hospital.

Located on the second and third floor of the Surgery and Emergency Services Pavilion, Children’s Surgery Center’s cutting-edge pediatric facility was designed to meet current seismic safety code and to maximize value without sacrificing quality. Patients and their families check-in and use the waiting room on the second floor that also houses the staff breakroom, administration offices, and other support services.

Patients are then escorted to the prep/recovery bays on the third floor, which also house six new operating rooms – four general operating rooms, one cardiovascular operating room, and one complex operating room to be used for specialty cases such as conjoined twin separations. All building support systems serving the surgical spaces were upgraded with the project.

Serving children from infants to 17-year-old young adults, design considerations needed to cater to diverse patient needs. HGA’s goals included creating an environment that was both practical and child-friendly. Each key element was purposefully and intentionally designed for children in an effort to provide a sense of comfort, stability, and safety to the facility’s young patients and their families during their stay. For instance, the brightly colored waiting room features a play area to make the transition process easier for younger patients.

In addition, HGA designed the OR environments to assist in controlling the pediatric patient’s body temperature. Infants and neonates are vulnerable to both hypothermia and hyperthermia during surgery, therefore the need for rapid heating and cooling of the ORs. The design team utilized computational fluid dynamics (CFD) computer modeling to optimize the size and location of ceiling diffuser arrays and low wall return grilles and to determine actual ventilation rates necessary for thermal management and to achieve superior airflow around the operating tables.

Particular attention to detail was given to the design of staff meeting areas. Because it is a teaching hospital, advanced technological capabilities included implementing live video feeds from operating rooms that can be watched from the adjacent collaboration rooms. As a teaching center, it was important to provide areas for teaching, collaborating and gathering. Besides being a huddle space, these collaboration rooms allow live feeds of the procedure so that students can learn without actually being in the operating room.

Architect: HGA
Design Team: Greg Osecheck, Russell Rocker, Brent Forslin, Heather Kampa, Joseph Tarlizzo
General Contractors: American River Construction and Modern Building, Inc
Photography: Chad Davies