Business as Usual

AMERICUS, Ga. — Stegenga + PARTNERS, a leading architecture practice for physician and hospital-based clients and long-term care providers, announced completion and grand opening of a 76-bed hospital in Americus, Ga. The opening came just 13 months after a tornado ripped through the South Georgia town of 17,000 — killing two people, destroying Sumter Regional Hospital and hundreds of homes and businesses.

“The hospital took a direct hit from the tornado. Debris was everywhere, and we had to evacuate the 54 patients to hospitals in Albany, Columbus and Macon, Ga.,” says Stephen Machen, chief operating officer of Sumter Regional Hospital. “Once the hospital was cleared, the next question was: is it safe and structurally secure?”

Hospital management estimated that a replacement hospital would take three years to build, but the community could not wait that long for a facility. Sumter Regional Hospital chose Stegenga + PARTNERS to design and lead the project development of a full-service hospital. The team was to design, program and build a facility in a community recovering from a natural disaster — and in significantly less time typically afforded to construct a comparable facility. In order to successfully complete this unprecedented project, Stegenga worked with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA), hospital executives and Sunrise Solutions, the construction company responsible for building the structure.