Charlestown, MA – Walsh Brothers, Inc.alongside Mayor Menino, Governor Deval Patrick, Partners Healthcare, and Spaulding Hospital stakeholders, staff, patients, and alumni as well as architect Perkins + Will recently celebrated the groundbreaking of Spaulding’s replacement Hospital in Charlestown, Massachusetts. Walsh Brothers was selected to lead the construction of this new facility which symbolizes Spaulding’s commitment to expanding their world-class occupational and rehabilitative program. The project represents a significant commitment to job growth and economic development. Governor Patrick remarked, “Spaulding is a valued resource to the Commonwealth, offering critical rehabilitative services to the residents of Massachusetts and greater New England.”
Ranked 4th among Rehabilitation Hospitals by U.S. News and World Report, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital has steadily built a reputation as a premier facility for rehabilitative patient care and related research. In order to meet a growing demand for its services, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, a member of Partners HealthCare, is constructing a cutting edge research and interdisciplinary patient facility located on Boston’s waterfront. This eco-friendly hospital features advanced patient amenities reinforcing the Hospital’s full continuum of rehabilitation treatment and care for its patients and the incorporation of sustainable strategies wherever possible.
A unique discovery was made during the site excavation for the deep foundation in the Charlestown Navy Yard, 40-foot historic wooden timbers were uncovered buried beneath the water table for over 100 years. The site of Spaulding’s new hospital, served as a US Navy timber receiving dock in the late 1800’s. The timbers were perfectly preserved and seasoned and through a series of Walsh Brothers’ contacts and connections the project team provided 15 truckloads of the timbers to the Mystic Seaport Preservation Shipyard in Connecticut. The timing was perfect and the timbers were utilized in the critical repair and restoration of the last surviving Whaling ship in the United States, the US Morgan. The story of the US Morgan’s restoration and “rebirth” was so remarkable it made national headlines in a New York Times article as well as Wooden Boat magazine.
The 250,000 SF hospital will provides 132-inpatient beds, including an inpatient pediatric department and specialty units for stroke/neurology and spinal cord patients, a conference center, medical library, family resource center, giftshop, café, aquatic therapy center, physician administration, outpatient services, radiology, pain management/medical clinic, and speech pathology unit. The Hospital is pursuing a LEED silver level certification in accordance with USGBC guidelines. If successful, this will be the first newly constructed hospital in New England to achieve silver level LEED. With more than a fifty year history working for Partners HealthCare, Walsh Brothers is thrilled to have been awarded the construction of this interdisciplinary rehabilitation hospital for patient care and cutting edge research in therapeutic practices.