Avera places priority on safety, reuse and recycling of Plaza 3

This paid piece is sponsored by Avera Health.

When Avera planned to remove Plaza 3 from the middle of its main hospital campus in Sioux Falls, it meant some special considerations and unique strategies. Every detail was thought of; even a large evergreen tree that was unable to be saved will be used in a thoughtful way.

“According to our value of stewardship, the Sisters wanted to salvage and reuse as much as possible, as well as recycle as much as possible,” said Tom Bosch, property management consultant at Avera McKennan Hospital & University Health Center.

“At the same time, being on a hospital campus, the safety of our patients and visitors is of utmost importance,” Bosch said.

That meant special considerations like how demolition would affect Careflight landings, patient procedures, pedestrian and vehicle traffic patterns and more.

“For all these reasons, we worked with a specialty contractor known as Veit from Rogers, Minnesota. They stay in constant communication with our hospital teams and collaborate to ensure patient safety and a positive patient experience.”

Removal of Plaza 3 will make room for a major six-story addition project to Avera McKennan. The tower will create a new home for women’s and children’s services at Avera, as well as a welcoming front entrance to the hospital.

Stewardship and sustainability

After Plaza 3 officially closed for patient care and all clinics had moved to other locations, Avera facilities staff took a detailed inventory and salvaged everything they could for future Avera projects, repairs or replacements. This included furniture, cabinetry, doors, locks, door closures, security cameras and more.

“Those items are being stored and will be repurposed. In many cases, these will save us from having to purchase brand-new items,” Bosch said.

After items were salvaged, Veit estimated that it could recycle 75 percent of the building.

“The majority of the building was concrete and steel,” Bosch said. In removing the building in smaller sections, crews separated out materials, with concrete handled by Soukup Construction of Sioux Falls to be ground up and used for road base. Steel is being recycled through TJN Enterprises.

There’s a certain amount of regulated waste such as fluorescent bulbs, outdated computer equipment or monitors, and old wires that can’t be reused, and those materials are being disposed of properly by J&J Contracting of Shoreview, Minnesota, which has specialized experience in handling regulated waste.

Soukup is taking other nonrecyclable, nonsalvageable materials to its private landfill. “So none of the materials left from Plaza 3 will be going into the public landfill. And the percentage of the building going to a landfill is small after our recycling and salvage efforts,” Bosch said.

Lumber from the trunk of a large evergreen tree near Plaza 3 that had to be taken down will be saved for a future special and meaningful project. “Several options are being considered,” Bosch said. Wood chips were created from the branches for landscaping on the Avera on Louise Health Campus.

Patient safety and well-being

During demolition, much of Avera Careflight’s air traffic has been diverted to the Sioux Falls Regional Airport. “If there’s an emergency situation, we immediately notify Veit, and they halt operations, so no construction work could possibly interfere with a helicopter landing on our Avera McKennan helipad,” Bosch said.

If there are imaging or surgery procedures taking place that could be impacted by even slight vibration, construction-related operations also are suspended. “Priority No. 1 is the safety and well-being of our patients and staff,” Bosch said.

View a time-lapse video of the Avera McKennan project here.

Get more updates on what’s happening at Avera at Avera.org/Balance.