Jack Byrne Center entrance
Burlington, VT – Dartmouth-Hitchcock and E4H Environments for Health Architecture, an architecture firm exclusively focused on the healthcare industry, celebrated the official completion and dedication of the new Jack Byrne Center for Palliative & Hospice Care recently with public events. The state-of-the-art 30,000sf facility incorporates many innovative amenities designed to increase support for patients’ and families’ physical, emotional, and spiritual comfort.
Located on the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) campus in Lebanon, New Hampshire, the Jack Byrne Center’s design addresses a fundamental objective of palliative care: to improve the quality of life of patients and their families when faced with challenges associated with long-term and terminal illnesses.
Some of the distinctive elements of E4H’s planning and design:
- Each of the Jack Byrne Center’s 12 large, single-occupancy patient rooms can accommodate up to three family members for overnight visits in a home-like setting, with private bathrooms and balconies overlooking beautiful woodlands.
- The center has several warm, welcoming spaces where patients and families can gather to reflect and find comfort, including a chapel for meditation and reflection, sunroom, massage room, art and music therapy rooms, spa, and family library.
- Additional therapeutic spaces include an exercise room, playroom for children, and media room designed for young adults.
- In addition to a commercial kitchen for staff-prepared patient meals, a residential-style kitchen and dining room provide families the opportunity to prepare and host meals for or with their loved ones.
- Multiple telehealth videoconferencing connections give patients access to a full range of expert consultations, supporting the consistent delivery of clinically excellent healthcare.
“The Jack Byrne Center is much more than a center that manages patients’ pain—it is a comforting, spiritual haven that allows Dartmouth-Hitchcock’s patients to receive exceptional medical care, with welcoming accommodations for their loved ones to be with and support them,” said Charlie Rizza, AIA, Associate Partner, E4H Environments for Health Architecture. “We have been honored to help fulfill Dartmouth-Hitchcock’s innovative vision for transforming every aspect of the patient’s experience for the better.”
The Jack Byrne Center will also serve as an educational and training resource for end-of-life caregivers throughout New England. The resource program was developed and will be administered by Dartmouth-Hitchcock’s Palliative Care Program in collaboration with hospice and community partners.
Consistent with E4H’s overall design philosophy of creating sustainable environments, the building incorporates a geothermal heating and cooling system, LED lighting technology, and high-efficiency mechanical and electrical systems. Where possible, products and finishes are locally sourced and made from natural or recycled products. The center was designed to accommodate six future additional patient rooms to serve anticipated growth.
Construction on the facility by PC Construction began in June 2016. Led by a $10 million commitment from the Jack and Dorothy Byrne Foundation in 2014, philanthropic support has covered 75% of the center’s construction cost.
