Child and Adolescent Center at Rogers Memorial Hospital: A Facility for a New Era of Care

Rogers Memorial Hospital (Rogers) provides nationally recognized behavioral treatment and specialty psychiatry services tailored specifically for adults, teens and children. Rogers boasts a century-long history of treatment in the southeastern Wisconsin. Rogers’ Oconomowoc campus serves as an anchor to the Rogers Behavioral Health System and offers a variety of treatment programs on 50 acres of lush woodlands, conveniently located between Milwaukee and Madison, Wis. Physicians at Rogers believe that healing comes from treatment of a whole person and engages body, mind and spirit, which the Oconomowoc campus exemplifies.

Rogers’ physicians, administrators and patients celebrated the opening of a new Child and Adolescent Center (CAC) in October 2012, marking the long-awaited end to a three-phase $26.5 million construction initiative that revitalized the Oconomowoc campus. The previous two phases consisted of building a new $6.5 million experiential therapy center and a $12 million in-patient hospitalization center, as well as completing several renovations to other buildings on campus. The new, standalone CAC facility sprawls across 33,000 square feet and provides enough space to house both the child and adolescent center under one roof.

The new additions breathe new life into the historic Oconomowoc campus. Rogers’ officials wanted to ensure the new facilities provided patients and families with state-of-the-art treatment options in a setting that reflected the center’s concern for safety, privacy and accessibility. Ultimately, the not-for-profit healthcare provider turned to VJS Construction Services (VJS) to oversee the development as general contractor and construction manager.

“We are fortunate to have Rogers as a client because they do so much for the community and their attitude as a project owner is really consistent with our own,” expands Bill Pennoyer, senior project manager at VJS.

VJS’s history stretches back to 1947. VJS prides itself on providing the kind of exceptional service that engenders trust and long-term client relationships, so it’s no surprise that the company continues to rank amongst the top general contractors and construction management firms in the state.

Building with Care

Due to the scope of the Rogers project, VJS assembled a team of professionals to ensure the improvements were completed with minimal disruption to the patients’ treatment. Pennoyer oversaw the project alongside Chris Coggins, project manager at VJS, and Sean Farchmin, assistant project manager at VJS, as well as Brian Johannes and Dave Lamb, superintendents for the CAC project.

The team kicked the project off with extensive preconstruction planning to ensure site work components on a 100-year-old campus proceeded without disrupting service to the operational buildings on campus. And it was nothing short of a success.

Crews also had to grapple with a construction site with multiple projects taking place. VJS supplied the necessary manpower to complete selective demolition, carpentry and concrete work in-house.

“Our biggest challenge was just making sure we respected the green space and healing environment of the campus,” adds Pennoyer.

On the one hand, Rogers is not a typical hospital with emergency rooms, operating rooms and critical care facilities, so a power outage wouldn’t put critical life-support services in jeopardy. On the other hand, the campus hosts a variety of treatment programs that make use of the adjacent lake and wooded areas, so extensive measures were taken to keep hospital staff and patients informed. Any unnecessary disruptions to utility service were advertised well in advance and crews took great care to limit and clearly mark access points to the construction site, especially as the three new facilities replaced five older buildings that were eventually demolished. VJS also coordinate closely with hospital administration to ensure relocating patients and staff progressed without a hitch.

VJS also benefitted from the participation of subcontracting partners like Over the Top Roofing & Construction (OTR), a roofing specialist that previously partnered with VJS to build the Eating Disorder Center at the Rogers Oconomowoc campus. For the CAC, OTR was responsible for the building’s asphalt shingle roof, the aluminum fascia, gutters and soffit, as well as for supplying a custom piece of bent aluminum trim.

An Exceptional Space

“Overall the project really went very smoothly,” recalls Pennoyer. “The older CAC building felt very institutional; we lead a touch through the new CAC just after we had closed it in. It was a memorable moment because we all kind of realized how the space would look once it was completed and how great the space would be for the children and their families.”

The new CAC provides a more residential feel that reflects the longer term care and mix of psycho-education and adventure-based experiences offered at the center. Rogers maintains that this particular blend of approaches produces lasting results in under three months in some cases, which is considerably shorter than the 12 or 18 months required by other programs.

True to Rogers tradition, the new CAC makes the most of its setting with expansive windows in common spaces and plenty of indoor day light. A wood frame gives the building a residential appeal inside, while an exterior of carefully chosen brick and stone veneer units the building with the campus’ overall architectural aesthetic. The building also offers patients access to an art studio and indoor gymnasium to compliment the campus’ nearby ropes course, playing fields and hiking trails.

Elsewhere on campus, VJS oversaw the construction of the new in-patient addition and experiential center, which features a gym of its own, an art therapy studio, a classroom, fitness area, recreation center and café. Together, VSJ contributed a total of 85,000 square feet of new facilities with which to help Rogers’ staff provide holistic healing services.

Even throughout 2012 and all of its active construction, Rogers Memorial Hospital placed seventh in the nation for mental health services. With help from attentive, experienced and invested partners like VJS Construction Services, the Rogers Behavioral Health System will have many more occasions to celebrate in the future, starting with the Child and Adolescent Center.