Oregon Health & Science University: Bridge to the Future
University Hosp.
Thursday, 01 November 2007
Oregon Health & Science University: Bridge to the Future - Health Executive - RedCoat Publishing
This university’s latest development project is transforming the city of Portland and the model for healthcare design.
It doesn’t take long to notice there is something different about the Center for Health & Healing in Portland, Ore. Every five minutes, a sleek looking tram glides down from above, delivering people, patients, staff, and students to the academic medical center.

Oregon Health & Science University: Bridge to the Future - Health Executive - RedCoat Publishing
Dr. Joseph Robertson, President and CEO
The tram, which travels the 3,300 linear feet from Oregon Health & Science University’s historic main campus on Marquam Hill to the new 16-story Center for Health & Healing on the banks of the Willamette River, is the most visible example of how OHSU is transforming healthcare in Portland as the anchor tenant in the city’s $2.3 billion South Waterfront project.

“For years, people have talked about a science and technology center in Portland,” said Dr. Joseph Robertson, president and CEO. “We’re making it reality. The South Waterfront is the epicenter. With the first building, the Center for Health & Healing, we’ve planted a flag. And now we are focused on the next 20 years as we design and develop the Schnitzer Campus, our flagship for the future of healthcare education and the embodiment of our mission and our vision.”

That mission and vision is to provide the very best in education, research, patient care, and community service. Step off the tram and into the Center for Health & Healing, and you see how all four elements are coming together like never before.

Island in the woods
Perched high atop Marquam Hill overlooking downtown Portland, OHSU’s original 116-acre campus provides picturesque views of the city but can be difficult to access, particularly in the winter months.

In the July 2005 issue of the Portland Business Journal, vice president Steve Stadum described OHSU as “an island in the woods at the top of Marquam Hill, somewhat disconnected from the rest of Portland despite its close proximity to downtown.”

That’s why OHSU leaders made connecting to the community and accessibility top priorities when they began looking for space to expand in 2001. The little used South Waterfront area, just two-thirds of a mile from Marquam Hill, seemed ideal. But major infrastructure work was required, and OHSU leaders weren’t sure how they would effectively link the two campuses.

Working with the Portland Department of Transportation, all options were explored, including shuttle buses and new roads. However, OHSU’s unique location called for a unique solution: an aerial tram. Capable of carrying 980 passengers an hour in each direction, the tram was perfect for OHSU, but some residents and city leaders didn’t think it was perfect for Portland. In the end, the public process resulted in approval of the tram as part of Portland’s public transportation system—but paid for largely by OHSU.

With OHSU on board, a number of other commercial investors signed on, and the South Waterfront quickly became the largest development project in Portland’s history. A new grid of streets was created, bus lines and streetcar routes were extended, and a pedestrian bridge will be built to link the nearby neighborhood to the waterfront.

“We helped take a brown field and turn it into an urban oasis,” said Robertson. “It is the new hot area in Portland.”

And the once controversial tram is rapidly becoming a city icon. In less than 10 months of operation, the tram celebrated its 1 millionth rider. More importantly for OHSU, it’s become an enormously successful link between the Marquam Hill campus and the new Center for Health & Healing. OHSU is no longer an island in the woods.
Building a metaphor OHSU not only wanted to connect with the community via the South Waterfront project, it wanted to connect each of its disciplines like never before. The Center for Health & Healing was specifically designed to accomplish that goal, and the future Schnitzer Campus will be built around the educational concept of coordination and cooperation.

“It’s a truly interdisciplinary and trans-professional building and campus,” Robertson said. “It is a microcosm of the university—all the missions are represented, all of our schools are represented, and we’re reaching out to the public in an effort to improve the health and wellness in the community.”

Eight levels of the 400,000-square-foot building house physician practices, outpatient surgery, and an imaging center; four levels are dedicated to education and research activities, including laboratory space for OHSU’s biomedical engineering program; and the first two floors house March Wellness, a comprehensive public health and wellness center.

Of note: no space in the facility was set aside for the storage of medical records. From the start, OHSU made the decision to make the Center for Health & Healing paperless. Departments are not only within close proximity, they’re also linked via the electronic health record. And OHSU is extending its EHR to patients with MyChart, a Web portal that allows patients to confidentially access their own medical records, obtain test results, schedule appointments, and ask non-urgent questions.

“We’re connecting with each other and with our patients,” Robertson said. “And we’re educating the medical professionals of tomorrow in an environment where they can mingle with students from various disciplines, study together, and experience things outside a one-silo school. Today’s system trains people in silos and magically expects them to work together when they enter the workforce. We hope to change that.”

It’s an innovative model and, fittingly, it’s being applied in an innovative environment. The Center for Health & Healing is the first large medical and research facility in the US to earn Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) platinum certification—the highest attainable—from the US Green Building Council. The award is well deserved. The building’s South-Side façade on the top floors forms a 6,000-square-foot trombe wall, creating a giant solar air heater. In the winter, the warm air is circulated throughout the building, heating it naturally. In the summer months, chilled beams combine convective cooling systems with displacement ventilation to cut energy use by 25% over conventional HVAC systems. Year round, sunshades double as solar electricity generators. All told, the center is 61% more energy efficient than required by Oregon code.

“The building and the future campus surrounding it, with their interdisciplinary and environmental designs, is a metaphor for our mission of education, research, patient care, and community service,” Robertson said. “And the tram is a modern bridge that serves as a daily reminder we’re here to reach out and leverage our installations for the benefit of all.”
 
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