Wise Construction has completed the renovation of Newton-Wellesley Hospital’s Fifth Floor, East Wing, transforming 20,000 SF into a cutting-edge, 24-bed Medical-Surgical Unit. The enhanced space includes new nurse call stations, modern patient beds with Bluetooth technology, state-of-the-art headwalls, Smart Glass for internal partitioning, medical examination rooms, two all-isolated rooms, and two negative pressure rooms for highly contagious patients. This expansion has increased the intake of patients with an additional 24 beds.
A Focus on Patient Care and Design
Justin Ferbert, Director of Engineering and Facilities at Newton-Wellesley Hospital explains that the mission of the renovation was to improve the overall patient experience by creating a more comfortable and high-quality environment. The new finishes and specialized features, such as the infection control-focused headwalls and medical gas systems, are designed to support both patient well-being and efficient medical care.
Ronald Gorham, Healthcare Practice Leader at Perkins & Will, emphasized the importance of design elements that enhance visibility and openness. Nurse stations were centralized while decentralized observation points were added to ensure clear lines of sight between staff and patients. Switchable Smart Glass in observation areas allows for privacy while maintaining critical visual access to patients when needed.
Collaboration and Innovation
The success of the project was rooted in deep collaboration between the design team, hospital staff, and Wise’s field management. The presence of the architectural team on-site twice a week streamlined the RFI process and enabled real-time decision-making, according to team members. The ability to rapidly address design changes and incorporate feedback from clinical staff was key to maintaining project momentum without delaying the schedule.
John DaSilva, Senior Superintendent at Wise, played a key role in minimizing disruptions to the hospital’s Emergency Department (ED), located directly below the construction zone. Through innovative phasing, the team reduced coring and plumbing disruptions from six months to just three, completing work in focused two-day bursts for each section of the ED. This approach allowed the majority of the ED to remain operational, significantly improving the patient and staff experience during construction.
Prefabrication and Lean Construction
Prefabrication was another major success factor, particularly for the installation of the modular headwall systems in patient rooms. Senior Project Manager Brenden Lydon highlighted that these systems, used for managing electrical and medical gas functions, cut costs and installation time by hundreds of thousands of dollars. The prefabrication of headwalls reduced the project timeline by months, allowing Wise to complete this aspect of the project in just weeks rather than months.
The use of Lean construction principles, such as pull planning and prefabrication, allowed the team to stay ahead of schedule and deliver cost-saving solutions. Multiple Pull Planning sessions brought together trade partners, designers, and hospital staff to address challenges room by room, ensuring that every stakeholder was aligned with the project’s goals.
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“Seeing everything come to fruition in the end and look like the model that we envisioned is my highlight. I like seeing everything come together in that way,” said John Dasilva. The team’s commitment to innovation, pre-planning, and collaboration set the project’s standard from start to finish.
Thank you to our incredible project partners:
Owner: Newton-Wellesley Hospital
Owner’s Project Manager: Colliers Project Leaders | USA
Architect: Perkins & Will
MEP Engineer: BR+A Consulting Engineers
Civil Engineer: E3i Engineers
Our Wise Project Team:
Project Executive: Shawn Seaman
Senior Project Manager: Brenden Lydon
Project Manager: Brian Vatelle
Assistant Project Manager: Ina Hajro
Assistant Project Manager: Abigail Heron
Senior Superintendent: John DaSilva
Assistant Superintendent: Justin Davis
And our wonderful Videographer: Chris Capozzi
