Set on a greenfield site, Sentara Martha Jefferson Hospital was designed by Kahler Slater Architects with enormous involvement from the owner, who formed 35 design committees to review all aspects of the project from patient and family experience to operating rooms, medical equipment, and information technology. Committees included not only doctors, nurses, and administrators, but community members and former patients.

The 84-acre site is breathtaking and includes elevation changes of more than 100 feet, which presented many exciting challenges for the project team. To accommodate the site, the hospital was designed to be constructed into the side of a hill to retain its presence while reducing its visibility from afar. This was important because the building will be visible from Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, a national landmark. 

This 520,000 SF hospital houses 176 private beds, with the tallest point of the building being five stories. Within the new facility is 6,048 SF and two procedure rooms dedicated to Cardiac Care. The facility also includes 11,640 SF of CATH/VIR spaces with two CATH rooms and three VIR rooms. Throughout the entire hospital, state-of-the-art data storage/processing infrastructure allows the hospital to adopt electronic medical record keeping. Martha Jefferson Hospital is a LEED Certified facility. 

The design and construction team focused on embracing the guiding principles of SMJH, including Best Experience, Best Clinical Outcomes, Best Care Model, Best Place to Work, and Best Business Model. Areas of focus for the building’s design and construction included:

• An approachable entry circle that greets patients
  
  
• Creating a unique sense of place; one that reflects local culture and will stand the test of time
  
  
• A welcoming front door that focuses on people – patients, families, friends, caregivers, and staff
  
  
• Common areas that celebrate Central Virginia’s Natural Beauty - The main lobby and, directly above, the dining pavilion of the new hospital provide some of the nicest views over the city of Charlottesville out to the Blue Ridge Mountains
  
  
• Personal, comfortable, and safe patient experience with new patient rooms that reflect input from caregivers, patients, families, and community members
  
  
• Comfortable healing environments where families feel welcome
  
  
• Private patient rooms that contribute to lower infection rates, improve communication, promote rest, and dramatically improve the patient/family experience – all leading to better clinical outcomes
  
  
• Comfortable and dignified cancer center with a state-of-the-art linear accelerator, capable of delivering radiation therapy in a setting that will be comforting in several ways