New Hospital Will Show Off High Tech Design

New Hospital Will Show Off High Tech Design
The differences between the old and the new - the Oil City and Franklin hospital buildings and the new UPMC Northwest in Cranberry Township - are dramatic.

The crisp new hospital, due to open Friday, Oct. 8, is dazzling in its high-tech, gleaming and efficient design.

"You can't go into a new hospital building and do things the way you did before. This is a 21st century hospital replacing two older hospitals. There are a lot of differences," said Pam Niederriter, manager of community relations for UPMC Northwest.

The $70-plus million health center, Pennsylvania's newest hospital, was designed and built by Hospital Building and Equipment Co. of St. Louis. The company, one of the nation's leading design-build firms for health care and financial institution facilities, was founded by Fred S. Kummer, whose grandparents, Harriet and Edgar Tolles, lived in Siverly.

Outside, the four-level hospital occupies one-fifth of a 165-acre tract off Route 257. The first floor, perched atop the ground floor, is the largest section of the building. The smaller second and third floors are t-shaped and set astride the larger first floor. A profusion of windows and doorways accentuates the sandy-colored building exterior.

A ring-shaped road circles the new hospital, surrounded by parking lots. There are more than 950 parking spo