Syska Hennessy stays in step with healthcare visionaries.

For more than three decades, Syska Hennessy Group, Inc. has served hospitals and healthcare organizations, evolving as medicine does to meet the technological needs of this dynamic marketplace.

According to Bill Scrantom, Syska Hennessy Group's National Healthcare Director, this expertise has made the firm adept at designing spaces within highly technical facilities. "We are fortunate to have the opportunity to work alongside true visionaries in their field, who rely on our ability to create flexible building systems that respond and adapt to future technological developments and economic needs."

As a result, Syska Hennessy Group remains the undisputed leader in the healthcare engineering field as confirmed by ENR for more than five years in a row.

The firm has been responsible for consulting on and designing technical spaces in more than $4.2 billion in construction costs of new and renovated medical facilities in the last five years alone.

To further facilitate the growth of their healthcare practice, Syska acquired Caretsky & Associates Consulting Engineers in NYC and Houston, enabling the firm to establish a regional office in Houston this year. Syska's healthcare practice has a dedicated, national team of experts with the understanding, foresight and skills needed to meet the rapid and dramatically changing world of healthcare.

"Houston is very progressive in the field of healthcare and in adopting the latest medical treatments available to patients. Opening an office in Houston was a natural step in growing our national team and allowing us to serve clients there," explained Scrantom.

Scrantom further explained that one of the tools used by Syska's national Healthcare Team is its "Hospital of the Future" planning process, a strategy which enables clients to anticipate and adapt to technological and economic changes. This approach serves to guide the entire project team in the development of innovative technical solutions that improve the efficiency of medical facilities and provide the critical flexibility needed as these facilities grow and evolve over their lifetime.

Said Scrantom, "We realize that medicine is not solely based on technology, and a hospital is not merely an institution. Healthcare is about people, and the intimate, subtle processes of treatment and healing. As sophisticated and efficient as they must be, engineering systems in a hospital setting must, above all, be transparent to the patients, doctors and staff who rely on them. When we meet this complex challenge, our clients' most important objectives are achieved."

Syska Hennessy Group's portfolio of healthcare projects is wide-ranging and diverse. It includes renovation and new construction in both the public and private sectors of major tertiary care centers, academic medical centers, community hospitals, ambulatory care centers, clinical research labs and pharmaceutical facilities. The firm's capabilities range from designing to constructing to operating facilities. Syska Hennessy offers design services such as mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineering, low-voltage design, security systems design, sustainable design, vertical transportation, and architectural lighting. The firm also has expertise in systems commissioning.

Some of the company's world-renowned healthcare clients include: New York Presbyterian Hospital Health System, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, the Mayo Clinic, Kaiser Permanente, University of Pennsylvania Health System, and The Veterans Administration. "We believe in partnering with our clients, learning about their business strategies now and for the future," says Mr. Scrantom. "Together we look at the client's long term goals, and use that information to design intricate building systems to help fulfill those aims."

Syska has been working as a partner with NY Presbyterian for more than 25 years. One project example is the Greenberg Pavilion, a 950,000 sq. ft., 776-bed, 11 story building. The structure is a two level platform constructed over FDR Drive, connecting to NY Presbyterian Hospital's existing 2,000,000 sq. ft. building. The facility includes intensive care units for Medicine, Surgery, Coronary, Cardiac, Burn, Pediatric and Neonatology services. The complex also includes obstetrics suites with 11-LDRs and 4-C-section rooms, a 19-room inpatient operating suite, a psychiatric treatment center and a full service emergency room. The client's goal is to provide the community with the most advanced level of healthcare. Syska's design at the Greenberg Pavilion set new standards for future engineered hospitals.

Another example is the Milstein Heart Hospital, a component of New York Presbyterian Hospital's strategic goal to shift research, clinical care and education to an ambulatory setting. The objective is to provide patient-focused care with state-of-the-art diagnostic and therapeutic suites that will pave the way for the next generation of minimally invasive techniques. Included in the project is a comprehensive Clinical Information System that ties together many systems within the hospital that were once handled individually or manually. This system serves the patients needs at the highest level and allows the hospital to meet the strictest government requirements regarding privacy assurance and transaction standardization. Centralized storage and information retrieval is accomplished using a Hospital Data Network, with much of the medical equipment tied into this network. To accommodate these systems, Syska Hennessy Group designed a voice and data cable infrastructure capable of supporting all of the hospital's communications requirements.

High-tech engineering systems were incorporated into the facility for indoor air quality monitoring, year-round cooling, reliable electric power sources and energy efficient systems, and a natural daylighting climate wall. To help the hospital with the premium cost of the new climate wall Syska helped the client apply for NYSERDA grants and potential LEED[R] certification. According to Fred Kolar, senior vice president, Syska's New York Healthcare, "It's the first healthcare facility of its kind in the United States--truly unique."

According to Scrantom, Syska Hennessy's objective with any healthcare project is to provide solutions that will meet today's requirements and continue to perform well into the future.

"We are looking to create facilities that are cost-effective, energy-efficient and offer the flexibility and reliability required for providing the highest quality patient care, while accommodating a future of changing needs--truly exemplifying a hospital of the future," he concluded.