Healthcare Construction in Boulder, Colorado

Infection control risk assessments come before the first wall is demolished on a healthcare job, and they set the tone for everything that follows. A hospital, surgery center or clinic wing does not stop operating while we work beside it, so the contractor's first deliverable is a plan for dust, air pressure, water, noise and patient routes. We write that plan with the owner's infection prevention and facilities staff, and we hold ourselves to it.

We build hospital additions and renovations, outpatient surgery and imaging centers, behavioral health facilities, clinics and medical office buildings, and the support buildings around them. Healthcare is the most regulated work a general contractor does: licensing agencies review the plans, infection control governs the field, and systems for medical gas, emergency power and nurse call must be tested before patients arrive.

The Boulder Valley adds its own demands. Owners here expect high-performance buildings, and local energy rules treat hospitals as a named exception worth understanding. Louisville alone has two hospitals, AdventHealth Avista and Centennial Peaks Hospital, and the approved Redtail Ridge plan describes relocating Avista Adventist Hospital within a 389 acre development along U.S. 36. We work in that context every day.

Plan Review, Energy Rules and Licensing

Healthcare projects are reviewed by more than one authority. The local building department reviews the building under its adopted code, the fire authority reviews life safety, and the state health agency reviews licensed facilities for the specialized requirements of patient care. Each has its own timeline and comment cycle, so we map them at the start and submit packages in the order that avoids rework.

Boulder's 2024 energy code is a useful example of how hospitals differ. Commercial projects in the city must be all-electric or use other non-fossil fuel sources, but the code exempts hospitals, along with labs, large S-1 occupancies with constant vehicle traffic, commercial cooking and emergency generators. Hospitals that use the mixed-fuel exceptions must be 15 percent better than ASHRAE 90.1-2022. That exception exists because sterilization, humidity control and resilience demands differ from an office. We help owners decide which path serves the facility, then price the engineering that follows.

Infection Control and Life Safety in the Field

In an occupied hospital, the construction zone is an active hazard to patients with weakened immune systems. We build hard barriers, negative air machines with monitored pressure, tacky mats, protected paths for debris, and dedicated elevators or routes where possible. Workers are briefed on the rules, and an infection control monitor checks the barriers daily. Water systems are flushed and tested before they return to service, because disrupted plumbing can bring bacteria into a building.

Interim life safety measures matter just as much. When we need to shut down a sprinkler zone or block an exit, we notify staff, adjust fire watch, and restore the system as soon as the work permits. These routines slow nothing when they are planned in advance. They cause problems only when they are invented on the day.

Planning Work Next to Patients

We divide a healthcare project into phases that match how the facility can give up space. A department may relocate for a few weeks, a wing may close, or a floor may be vacated entirely. Our plan lays out each swing space, the utility shutdowns required and the commissioning needed before the space returns. That is closely related to our work on phased construction on occupied sites.

We also give early attention to the long-lead equipment that healthcare uses: switchgear, generators, air handlers, imaging equipment and medical gas systems. Health systems with several projects in the pipeline, the kind of owner described under healthcare systems, gain the most from releasing those orders early, because waiting until the design is complete may cost months. We help prepare early release packages and track delivery dates. When a project involves imaging suites or operating rooms, we coordinate with the equipment vendors so power, shielding and structure are right from the first pour.

Schedules, Shutdowns and Commissioning

A healthcare schedule is shaped by what the facility can tolerate. Utility tie-ins, fire alarm cutovers and ceiling work above occupied rooms are done during planned windows, often at night or on weekends. We write each window into the schedule with a rollback plan, so a delay in the work does not leave a department without power or water.

Testing is the long tail. Medical gas verification, pressure relationships, emergency power transfer, nurse call and fire alarm acceptance all take days, and some cannot start until others finish. We include commissioning and closeout activities in the baseline schedule from day one, so regulators and clinical staff are not surprised by the time needed. A healthcare project is finished when the building has passed its inspections and the staff is ready to use it.

Campus Growth Along U.S. 36

The largest healthcare-related development in the area is Redtail Ridge, where the council approved a 389 acre plan that includes relocating a hospital, an industrial and medical research park and more than 500,000 square feet of office. The site abuts U.S. 36 to the east and the Northwest Parkway to the south, and the city's traffic study estimated 21,285 additional daily vehicle trips, 75 percent of them to or from those two roads. For a healthcare contractor, those numbers point to the work that surrounds a hospital: roadway connections, utilities, emergency access and stormwater, all of which have to be in place before patients arrive.

New campuses also raise questions that renovations do not. Where does emergency power live, how do ambulances approach, how are medical waste and deliveries separated from visitors, and how can the building expand without shutting down a wing? We raise those questions during preconstruction, and we price the answers as options, so an owner can choose the level of future flexibility to build in now.

Start With the Risk Assessment

Share the department, the building and the services that must keep running. We will outline the infection control plan, the phasing and a preliminary schedule.

Questions Owners Ask

Do hospitals in Boulder have to be all-electric under the city energy code?

No. Boulder's 2024 commercial energy code requires new commercial projects to be all-electric or use other non-fossil fuel sources, but it names hospitals, along with labs, commercial cooking, emergency generators and certain large S-1 occupancies, as exceptions. Projects using those exceptions have to be 15 percent better than ASHRAE 90.1-2022. Which path makes sense depends on the facility, and we model both.

How do you keep an occupied hospital running during construction?

We plan around the facility's operations. That means hard barriers, negative air, protected routes, scheduled shutdowns and an infection control monitor, all agreed in writing with the owner's staff. Shutdowns come with a rollback plan so a delay never leaves a department without service.

Which agencies review a healthcare project?

The local building department reviews the building, the fire authority reviews life safety, and the state health agency reviews licensed healthcare facilities. We map the review order and timing during preconstruction, then submit packages to avoid rework.

Can a clinic or outpatient building be built faster than a hospital?

Usually, because the code and licensing requirements are lighter and the building is simpler to phase. Outpatient projects still require careful planning for imaging, procedure rooms and sterile processing, and they depend on the same long-lead equipment. We tailor the schedule to the services offered rather than to a single standard.

Why is the equipment lead time so important on medical projects?

Items such as switchgear, generators, air handlers and imaging equipment often take months to arrive, and the building cannot be commissioned without them. We help the owner release those orders early and design the building around their final dimensions and loads.

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