Sarasota Memorial Hospital Rehabilitation Facility

Before making way for the new five-story Sarasota Memorial Hospital Rehabilitation Facility, the project required the demolition of an existing 5-story, 50,000-square-foot building and the emergency transformer vault with minimal disruptions to hospital operations. 

The facility needed new construction since it planned to feature taller ceilings to allow for the latest technology, including a gait-support system that allows patients to learn to walk again, a convenient surface parking lot, and a patient drop-off area are on the ground floor. 

The roof needed to include a decorative structural steel cantilevered screen wall with mechanical units behind the wall. To do this, Walter P Moore’s team suggested a structural system composed of mild, reinforced cast-in-place, concrete pan-formed beam floors, concrete columns, and auger-cast pile foundations. The lateral load resisting system is a combination of concrete shear walls and moment frames.

Since the new building had to tie into the three existing buildings, which were all built at different times and were occupied during this new construction, there were some structural challenges to consider to ensure the new building was structurally sound but didn’t disrupt the running hospital. The new facility building needed necessary structural supports to tie in the building, and the solution was a specialty shoring system to pour 60’ long beams that stabilized the buildings and is designed for a future pedestrian bridge.

The result of all of this planning and development is a brand-new facility with a variety of leading-edge technology to offer hope, healing, and recovery to the surrounding communities. The rehab program earned the highest level of accreditation from the Commission on the Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) and an additional certification as a Stroke Specialty provider.