Christus Spohn Shoreline New Patient Tower
The Hospital of the Future: NCS Partners with CHRISTUS Health to Deliver a Robust IT Infrastructure to Optimize Patient Experience
Utilizing Networking Technologies as a Wellness Tool
Five years ago, when the patient care tower expansion was conceived, hospital executives and designers wanted to establish the Corpus Christi hospital as the region’s most advanced facility that would benefit the lives and well-being of generations to come. As the single largest construction investment by CHRISTUS Health, the expansion of this state-of-the-art facility positions the hospital at the forefront of care with the largest emergency department in South Texas, including a Level II Trauma Center — the only one in a 12-county area.
The Trauma Center features 55 new Emergency Department beds, including four ultramodern resuscitation rooms, imaging facilities, 200 new patient rooms, endoscopy suite, full dietary services and graduate residency spaces with other clinical and procedural departments. As part of the master facility plan, a new central utility plant and multiple renovation areas, totaling more than 12,000-square-feet, were completed. The renovation reflected CHRISTUS Health’s Catholic faith, using re-purposed stained glass from the 70-year-old Welder Chapel from an older part of the hospital for use in the tower’s new chapel.
Structured Cabling
As part of the structured cabling system, NCS performed a complete network infrastructure build-out of one Intermediate Distribution Facilities (IDF) closet on floors two through nine with the Main Distribution Frame (MDF) being located on the first floor. NCS installed over 5,000 Superior Essex Category 6 cables with Ortronics Category 6 connectivity and a complete Superior Essex single-mode and 50-micron multi-mode fiber optic backbone system supplied by CSC (WESCO) for patient rooms, nurse counters, wireless access points, audio visual displays, and security cameras.
- Environmental control systems
- Fire and life safety systems
- Patient information systems
- Voice over Internet Protocol capabilities
- Security systems
- Internal communications networks
- Clinical equipment monitoring and control
- Wireless and mobile communications
A unique aspect of the project was the selection of the white closet racks to match the hospital’s design aesthetic and more easily alert maintenance staff when the racks require cleaning. The design and installation of the network were carried out according to specific CHRISTUS Spohn IT department standards and in accordance with all applicable industry standards such as BICSI and TIA.
