Hospital's New Helipad Landing On Top Of Newest Building Now In Use Till 2022

This week, Children's Hospital new helistop landing was activated. The new temporary
location is on the rooftop of Forest A, now known as Friends of Costco Building, until Building Care is completed in 2022.

The helicopter landing pad will sit at 176 feet. The hospital has advised that noise will likely be louder than it was with the former ground-based helipad location of the last 5 years, near the Emergency Room.

A couple of weeks ago Airlift Northwest conducted two test flights to the new helistop location. The test flights included one daytime and one evening landing and takeoff, along with simulation work by Seattle Children’s personnel on the rooftop.

The Laurelhurst Community Club,said in a recent newsletter:

Children’s Helistop 

Seattle Children’s Helistop has been located on the ground level since the early 1990s. It accommodates the transport of sick children by helicopter directly to the hospital or to landings at a UW sports field on east campus. Twice a year, the number and type of landings are reviewed by an independent committee of professionals and LCC. In the six months from January to June 2018, there were 73 landings, 61 at SCH and 12 at the UW field, compared to 54 in 2017 and 53 in 2016 for the same period.  

As part of the latest expansion by SCH, the helistop location will change to the top of the Friends of Costco Building (Forest A) on October 17. EIS predictions suggest noise will be more intense for some Laurelhurst residents, since the prior ground-level location sheltered the noise. 

Lighting will be as low as permissible; however, each patient transport takes a minimum of 20 to 45 minutes. Noise likely will be louder than the ground-based helipad. When Forest B is complete, the helistop moves to its permanent location on top of Forest B (same height). Noise levels will remain increased at nearby residential sites in Laurelhurst. LCC will continue to monitor and work with SCH on any issues that may arise with the new location.

In early 2022, the helipad will be permanently moved and located on top of the Forest B building, currently  under construction.  The new eight-story building will include diagnostic and treatment facilities, labs, new state-of-the-art operating rooms, 20 inpatient beds, and a lobby. Two floors underground are for parking and sterile processing. This will bring SCH bed total to 409, up from 200 before its expansion 2012 plan. 

Outside surface parking at that location will be eliminated and 323 parking places will be located under Forest B, a net increase of 137 spaces. There will be exits to Penny Drive and 40th Avenue NE, an already heavily congested route and which serves as the main entrance to Laurelhurst for fire, police and emergency vehicles. 

For more information go here. 

This Week Helicopter Evening Test Flights at Hospital

Children's Hospital published this information on their Construction Blog:

To prepare for construction of Building Care at the hospital campus, the existing helicopter landing pad (helistop) will be relocated to the top of Forest A. 

Airlift Northwest will conduct two test flights to the new helistop location, on Thursday at 10pm and Friday at noon.  In order to receive final approval for the new helistop, one of the test flights must take place at night.

These test flights will include both landing and takeoff, along with simulation work by Seattle Children’s personnel on the rooftop.  

The test flights will generate noise as the helicopter lands and takes off. 

On October 17, the new helistop will be activated, if everything goes according to plan.  The Forest A rooftop location will be used until Building Care opens in 2022.

For questions contact 206-987-8000 or email construction@seattlechildrens.org.

Tonight Learn About Hospital's Plans For New 8-story Building To Be Constructed Over Two Years



Tonight from 6-8pm, the SAC (Standing Advisory Committee), made up of representatives of Children’s Hospital and surrounding neighborhoods, will hold its 19th meeting in the Ocean Café  of the hospital. 

The SAC advises the City and Children’s Hospital on issues related to the design and construction of new buildings and other projects under the City approved Children’s Hospital Major Institution Master Plan.

The main agenda item tonight is a presentation of plans for the new Building, named Forest B, of which construction will start next summer for about 2 years. 

.

Public comment will be at 7pm. All SAC meetings are open to the public. 

Forest B will be located on the existing surface parking lot near the Emergency Room, at an angle to Building Hope, the newest structure.

Some options of design will be shared tonight.  The renderings and a site plan will be published shortly after on the Hospital Construction website.

The hospital is planning to submit a MUP application next month, then the SAC committee will review and discuss the information, discuss design guidelines and conditions and subsequently present those to the Seattle Department of Constructions and Inspections (SDCI).   Planning is scheduled to start in October, followed by a schedule of permitting deadlines. The scheduled opening of the new building is planned for the summer of 2021.
.

Todd Johnson, Children's Hospital Vice President, Facilities and Supply Chain, told the Laurelhurst Blog Staff:

Forest B will be approximately 300,000 square feet (about the size of Forest A) and eight stories tall, within approved Major Institution Master Plan guidelines. During construction, we may add a temporary construction driveway on Sand Point Way.  Construction will generally be five days a week and there will be activity after hours. 

Forest B will be a diagnostic and therapeutic building designed to support the sickest children in our region and will also be home to 20 new cancer care beds (only new beds in the project) on the top floor under an approved certificate of need to the State of Washington (a formal process to gain approval for additional beds).  

The new building will also have a new outpatient clinic space for cancer and cardiac care; a new infusion center; new large, state-of-the-art operating rooms and support spaces; a clinical laboratory and inpatient pharmacy and a work space for physicians and others caring for patients in the building.   

There will be approximately 300 underground parking spaces.  The Hospital shuttles will move to the north end of the site.  The circulation of shuttles, bicycles, pedestrians and cars will be better separated.   

We will make deliberate connections to the bus stops and Burke Gilman Trail crosswalk.  We are working with Transpo Group to better understand how to optimize the flow of traffic on and around our campus.

There will be a landscaped plaza and circulation area in front of the new building.  Existing landscaping around the construction site will be preserved and/or replaced and enhanced. 

We intend to utilize the existing entrances/exits on 40^th Avenue NE and Sand Point Way and will continue to use the Penney Drive entrance as the primary means for entering and exiting.  The Phil Smart Way connector will remain in place. 

The hospital determined it needed additional facilities based on growing patient volumes, innovation-driven program growth (in areas such as immunotherapy and neurosciences), and the functional obsolescence of some of the oldest buildings on campus.  

We expect a certificate of occupancy in mid-2021.  We then will then commission building systems, clean, install furnishings and equipment, and complete staff training.  We should be ready to care for patients in late 2021 or early 2022.

Additionally, the Laurelhurst Community Club (LCC) published in a newsletter that the helistop will move to Building Hope temporarily and later will be located on the roof of the Forest B Building. And the Hartman Building, the brick one-story building, located directly across from the Hospital, will become an outpatient diabetic care facility with construction starting in early 2018 and completion in 2020-21. 

The Hospital currently has 373 beds, of which most of are being renovated and changed into new NICU beds.  When Forest B is complete, the Hospital will have a total of beds.