Contractor Eyes LEED Certification For New Hospital

MINNEAPOLIS — Kraus-Anderson Construction Co., one of the Midwest’s oldest and largest commercial general contractors and construction managers, is set to start construction in January on a new 400,000-square-foot LEED-certified hospital for Gundersen Lutheran Health System.
 
The new construction and renovation of the current hospital space is one of the largest healthcare construction projects in the La Crosse region. Last month, crews completed a new three-level, 600-car parking ramp.
 
The hospital, designed by AECOM affiliate, Ellerbe Becket, Inc., is being constructed to meet LEED standards, according to reports. The energy-efficient design goes along with Gundersen Lutheran’s stated goal of being energy independent by 2014.
 
Plans call for the project to be built in phases over the next four to eight years. When completed, the six-story hospital will include private rooms for all patients and their families; new operating rooms and expanded pre- and post-op areas affording better patient privacy and service; improved medical, surgical and critical care units; centralized services for women and children, including a new Neonatal Intensive Care Unit; and an inclusive Trauma & Emergency Center with connecting imaging services.