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About Guthrie

Monthly Progress Updates

We invite you to enjoy these monthly photos and construction updates. The page begins with the earliest information about the project -- please scroll to the bottom for the most recent updates.

Date	Description
March 2004
	Preparation for construction began with the relocation of the Robert Packer Hospital Gift Shop, the Robert Packer Hospital Emergency Department entrance and some hospital service departments. All patient and visitor traffic to the Sayre campus was shifted to the Clinic Atrium entrance.
April 2004
	On April 2, the groundbreaking ceremony was held for the new surgery building. Site demolition began April 12, and the drilling of building support pilings began soon after. The building grid was laid out in late April, and floor levels between the existing building and new building location were verified. A new helipad was created on the north side of hospital as the existing helipad will be inaccessible during construction.
May 2004
	Drilling the pilings that will support the entire surgery building began in May. More than 300 pilings, drilled by a machine called an auger-cast pile, will hold up the completed surgery building. An auger-cast pile is a structural support column created by forcing high-strength grout down the center of an auger bore as a hole is drilled in the ground. This type of piling is required in areas with marshy ground to ensure the stability of the support piling. The surgery building pilings are each 16 inches in diameter and are drilled to a depth of 49 or 65 feet.
June 2004
	Construction work continued in June, including excavation of the elevator pits, creation of the retaining wall (including waterproofing), and placing piling caps. Concrete slabs were poured for the lowest level of the structure.
July 2004
	After pilings and slab work were complete, steel began to shape the new surgery building. The steel-setting crane arrived on campus this month, and watching the steel climb higher was especially exciting when 60-foot beams were lifted into place outside the cafeteria! Underground utilities were installed this month, and site grading was completed.
August 2004
	In August, the tunnel connecting the service side of the campus with the patient care side of campus was closed for several consecutive weekends to allow a trench to be dug in the tunnel. This trench will accommodate cables that connect two new generators in the RPH Power Plant to the new surgery building to provide emergency power. Steel setting continued this month.
September 2004
	The first of six air handlers for the new building arrived.
October 2004
	On October 8, Guthrie physicians, administrators and staff celebrated the "topping out" of the new surgery building. Topping out refers to the placement of the highest beam of a structure and signifies that major steelwork is complete. Topping out is a long-standing building tradition. It can involve simply securing the final beam, or can be a more elaborate ceremony that includes tying a small evergreen tree and American flag to the beam once in place. In ancient cultures, placement of a tree on the top beam was intended to honor the trees that provided the wood for construction.
At the surgery building topping out, a live evergreen tree was used; at the completion of construction, it will be planted on site as part of the new building’s landscaping as a symbol of growth and change. The American flag placed during the ceremony will be flown on top of the building for the duration of the project. Guthrie employees and physicians had the opportunity to sign the topmost beam prior to the ceremony in order to symbolically become a permanent part of the new building. In mid-October, installation of vertical steel channels was started. These channels will support the external "skin" of the building. Other major portions of surgery building construction that were well under way in October included masonry, decking and detailing, exterior metal framing, construction of the elevator penthouse (where controls are housed) and roof installation. Pouring of concrete decking was also initiated. Guthrie's Pain Services Department was relocated to the 4th floor main to make room to join the new building to the existing Clinic building.
November 2004
	This month, work began to break through onto the fourth floor of the existing Clinic East Building from the new surgery building. Floor and roof decking were completed, fireproofing began and continued weather-permitting, and installation of the new Atrium elevator car started.
December 2004
	On December 9, Guthrie Sayre campus staff celebrated the 175th day of construction work -- the halfway point -- on the new surgery building with a Halfway There party. Physicians and staff were treated to cake and punch in the RPH Cafeteria, and had the opportunity to meet Guthrie construction staff and contractors to ask questions. RPH President Bill Vanaskie also addressed attendees. Cake was also served to construction tradespeople working on the jobsite. Also in December, the building wrap was completed, exterior brickwork began, and work continued on inside projects such as mechanical, electrical and plumbing on all floors.
January 2005
	The exterior of the surgery building began to take definite shape this month -- it's now easy to see what the completed structure will look like. Work continues on studding, plating, fireproofing, bricking, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, door frames and duct work.
February 2005
	This month marked the completion of gypsum board installation in the new central processing area and the beginning of the finishing process in this area. Medical gas piping and rough-ins for nurse call and the sprinkler system began on the fourth floor. Installation of gypsum board started in the minor surgery rooms and the ambulatory surgery space. Transition teams began to meet to determine how occupation of the new building will occur.
March 2005
	Work continued steadily through March. Supports for OR booms, louvers in the elevator penthouse, exhaust ducts on the second level, and rails in the clean, soiled and passenger elevator cars were all installed in early March. Mechanical, electrical and plumbing work continued on the fourth floor. The final stages of sprinkler piping on first floor were completed, Ambulatory Surgery rough-ins were completed and by late March, brickwork on the main exterior portion of the surgery building was finished. Electrophysiology Lab renovations were completed, and steel for the Clinic’s South Atrium entrance canopy arrived and was installed.
The big event in March took several days mid-month: The cable that will supply emergency power to the surgery building was pulled from the generator in the RPH Power Plant through the trench in the tunnel to the new surgery building.
April 2005
	In April, work resumed on the surgery building roof once temperatures remained steadily in the 40s. Mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fireproofing work continued; gypsum board installation was nearly complete in the fourth level ambulatory surgery section. All but one operating room was studded by the end of April. Ductwork will continue until July. Steel for the helipad arrived midmonth and was installed. In late April, site work began, including grading and paving.
May 2005
	In May, Guthrie accepted delivery of a variety of large equipment for the surgery building. The building's emergency generator went online, and the mechanical, electrical and plumbing in the reception area reached 99% completion. Ceiling installation was completed in two of the operating rooms.
June 2005
	The shell space for the future operating room expansion was closed in. Window installation was completed, as was ceramic tile installation. Painting was largely complete by the end of June.
July 2005
	In July, the roof was completed and windows sealed. Site paving began, and portions of the parking lot closest to the South Clinic Atrium Lobby entrance were striped. Central Processing occupied its new space in the lowest level of the surge.
August 2005
	In August, mechanical systems throughout the building were up and running. Floors throughout were sealed with an epoxy coating in preparation for the installation of sheet vinyl. Contractors began to remove their trailers from the worksite, and phone, cable and power lines were shifted to accommodate helicopter landings resuming on the south side of campus. Sidewalk pouring was completed.

September 2005
	In September, the installation of new flooring began in the Clinic Atrium Lobby. Portions of the composite panelling for the South Atrium entrance canopy were installed, and floor installation continued in the surgery building itself.