Our Team’s Deep Hospital Expertise Continues to Expand
At Certus we design solutions for complex healthcare projects. Having completed over 400 projects over the past five years, we’ve selected five key project types that showcase our expertise, delivered in close collaboration with our valued clients and partners.
Infrastructure Work
We have a passion for highly technical MEP infrastructure projects that allow aging facilities to stay in tune with the latest technologies and energy efficiency strategies. Our partnership with healthcare campuses and their engineering teams allows Certus to bring value to their existing aging facilities across the State of Texas.
The first project that Certus delivered was a large-scale chiller replacement project for a major hospital in North Texas. Driven by the need for redundancy, reliability, and expansion capability, Certus was engaged to design this chiller replacement project and master planning effort. The scope included replacement of two existing chillers while maintaining service to the fully operational hospital. The original plant was expanded to maximize the chiller plant to deliver an additional 50 percent capacity within the existing real estate. Additionally, the chiller plant capacity and efficiency were optimized while improving flow and temperature deficiencies of the existing systems.
Working closely with our design assist partners, Certus was able to deliver the project in a significantly shorter time frame by incorporating fabrication, detailing, and procurement of equipment in parallel with the design phase. This process reduced the anticipated construction schedule by six months and allowed the full plant capacity to be operational before the upcoming summer season.
We are proud of our very first project where we had the opportunity to showcase our creativity and ingenuity. By integrating the latest technologies and energy efficient strategies, we transformed an aging chiller plant into a fully optimized plant, master planned to stand the test of time.
Complex Patient Care Diagnostics and Treatment Spaces
Technically challenging projects of all sizes fit into Certus’s core area of expertise. Complicated, single room modalities such as Cath &EP labs, Operating Rooms, MRIs, CTs, Hybrid ORs, Interoperative ORs, Radiology and Imaging all require technical engineering skills and an innovative approach. The scope often includes infrastructure upgrades necessary to support new state-of-the-art equipment and much needed MEP upgrades required to comply with current codes and standards.
This specialized expertise has enabled us to earn longstanding partnerships with most of the major private healthcare providers in North Texas. As continuous learners, our innovative approach and critical thinking drive us to always seek a better solution. Our connectedness with the clients, owners, and the community ground us and fuel our passion.
Inpatient and Acute Care
A hospital is not a hospital without its inpatient and acute care beds. Designing these spaces presents a critical opportunity to apply innovative engineered solutions that address today’s complex challenges. From supply chain shortages, cost escalation, and accelerated design and construction schedules, our team thrives on delivering designs that meet these demands while promoting wellness, healing, and future flexibility.
Our experience spans the entire spectrum of inpatient care projects. Whether designing a few patient rooms within an existing hospital, or a state-of-the-art large scale new patient tower, our portfolio includes med/surg, critical care, women’s services, oncology, full pandemic floors, and everything in between. The systems we design must balance heightened complexities in the healthcare design and construction world with the enduring need for efficiency and sustainability.
As MEP experts, we are an integral part of a team where each stakeholder offers valuable expertise. We collaborate very closely with the owners, architects, other consultants, general contractors, facilities team, and practitioners to successfully bring a project to life.
We employ a range of strategies tailored to the project’s unique needs including designs that incorporate prefabrication to streamline construction, advanced technologies to deliver future-ready designs, and creative equipment procurement and delivery strategies to help ensure timely delivery and implementation of critical equipment.
These strategies, combined with our deep understanding of healthcare facility needs allow us to deliver innovative MEP solutions that set the standard for excellence in healthcare engineering design.
Ambulatory Surgical Centers
As the trend of performing outpatient procedures in Ambulatory Surgical Centers (ASCs) continues to grow, so does Certus’s design portfolio of these types of facilities. In our first five years, we have extensive experience in designing ASCs which cater to a range of specialties including bone and joint care, endoscopy, and plastic surgery. Our journey began through a partnership with our architectural clients and one of the largest ambulatory surgery providers in the country. Our first project opened in Southlake, TX and consisted of a new 23,000 square foot Medical Office Building with an 18,000 square foot ASC housing six operating rooms. The success of this project not only marked a milestone for our firm, but also demonstrated our client-first approach, which is a trademark of Certus’s day-to-day operations. Our team’s attention to detail, clear communication, and tailored solutions resonate deeply with our partners, fostering trust and earning us the opportunity to design more ASCs across the State of Texas. Understanding the unique proforma and business operations of ASCs, we strive to tailor our approach to provide the right value-based design. As the demand for Ambulatory Surgical Centers continues to rise, Certus remains committed to leading the way as a thoughtful, client-focused partner.
Hospital Support and Ancillary Spaces
In every fully functional hospital, behind the scenes is a network of critical support and ancillary spaces that keep operations running seamlessly. At Certus, we understand that these spaces are the backbone of a healthcare facility, ensuring patient care is uninterrupted and efficient. Vital work happens in ancillary spaces including labs, pharmacies, sterile processing departments, and kitchens. With nearly fifty of these types of projects designed to date, we understand the significance and attention to detail required for a successful outcome.
Designing and renovating these spaces is inherently complex due to the continuous operation of healthcare facilities. Hospitals run 24/7, leaving no room for downtime. Working within an operational hospital requires intricate phasing strategies and close coordination with the existing MEP infrastructure. Oftentimes clients turn to us to upgrade additional infrastructure required to ensure compliance with current codes and standards. Our approach considers the complexities of hospital operations, allowing us to plan spaces that not only support current needs but also anticipate future demands.