MultiCare Tower at Good Samaritan Hospital
Expanding World Class Care
This project, which opened in February 2011, features 78 private family friendly patient rooms, 46 private treatment rooms, an emergency department, an imaging department, a surgery department, a central utility plant, and a parking garage. The project was developed utilizing an integrated Building Information Model (BIM), which transferred from design to construction. MultiCare Good Samaritan is one of the first “green” hospitals in Washington State, seeking LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
Scope:
SSA Acoustics provided the full scope of acoustical design services for the Good Samaritan Hospital including architectural, sound isolation, mechanical noise, and vibration control. Our team determined the design criteria appropriate for the project based on industry standards and Guidelines for Design and Construction of Hospitals Care Facilities. We reviewed the proposed mechanical equipment for noise and vibrations. We prepared initial recommendations for noise and vibration control, with respect to the design criteria. We also reviewed the CT scanner for noise and vibration, and provided recommendations as required to meet the criterion.
Challenges:
It was our understanding that it was expected that employees would be wearing hearing protection, which was an acceptable solution. However, wearing hearing protection is considered a temporary solution based on the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) standards, which requires reducing the noise levels through engineering solutions whenever possible. According to OSHA standards and state regulations, hearing protection is required whenever employee noise exposures equal or exceed an 8-hour time-weighted average sound level (TWA) of 85 dBA, more than one second exposure to 115 dBA or more, or exposure to an impulsive or impact noise of 140 dBA or more.
Solutions:
SSA presented recommendations for interior treatment of the generator rooms. The purpose of these recommendations was to reduce the noise levels from the intake louver at the Patient Care Tower to within the design criterion (this is in addition to the 3-foot silencer recommended). This treatment also reduced the noise levels inside the rooms significantly. A similar treatment was also recommended in the chiller room and pump room to reduce the reverberant sound inside these rooms to within an acceptable level.