In January 2011, The Lemoine Co. completed major renovations on the Lafayette General Medical Center, originally built in 1963 and last updated in 1983. The renovation, expansion and exterior up- grade was completed while the existing facility was in operation.
“Bedcount was critical for the hospital, so the planning that was involved in making a systematic plan that would not disrupt patient care was critical, as was the schedule,” says Cecil Zachary, health care business unit leader at Lemoine. “You break this down into basically 42 sequences of construction. Each sequence represented a floor or wing, and we had to get a certificate of occupancy for every sequence. On that type of project, what hap- pens is you schedule to take down a floor, then the hospital has to relocate patients, then you work the floor, stick to the schedule and then those patients come back into the renovated area. This was going on in a three-week cycle.”