Synthesis was retained by Ellis Hospital after it took control of former St. Claire’s Hospital, to provide design services for the Ellis Residential and Rehabilitation Center Skilled Nursing Unit which will be relocated to the second and third floors of the Ellis Hospital McClellan Campus. Fifty three thousand two hundred (53,200) square feet of existing acute care hospital will be renovated to accommodate program and support space for 82 relocated certified beds and 2 additional respite beds for skilled nursing.

The project will convert the existing institutional hospital environment into a warm, residential, homelike setting. Finishes and lighting have been selected for non-institutional appearance while complying with the facility’s maintenance requirements. The interior design will be contemporary but will convey a feeling of warmth, while providing durability from wheelchair traffic and equipment.

The design takes advantage of the existing building layout, creating smaller, segregated nursing units out of the pre-existing medical nursing units. In addition to the general skilled nursing units, specialty units will be provided for the post-acute population and the cognitively impaired.

Building areas will require reconfiguration of existing hospital wall layouts to improve resident privacy and to expand previously undersized toilet facilities. Existing core areas will be reconfigured to provide central dining rooms and lounge areas proximate to the nurses’ station. Core areas are designed to establish the unique identity of each unit.

To address the needs of the bariatric population, two rooms on each of the wings will be designed to accommodate bariatric residents. Accommodations include ceiling lifts with rail systems to assist patient transport into toilet rooms and oversized, heavy duty plumbing fixtures and furniture.