Iowa Veterans Home Pharmacy Renovation

Introduction

Serving more than 550 patients, the Iowa Veterans Home provides a continuum of care to veterans and their spouses in an environment focused on personal choice with individualized services to enhance the quality of their life. Founded in 1887, the facility now employs more than 900 staff assisting patients in residential and nursing care areas. 

Located in Marshalltown, Iowa, the facility offers all types of medical and non-clinical services, including pharmacy, physical therapy, lab, prosthesis, eye care, immunizations, oxygen, and respiratory support, spiritual services, music wellness, nutritional services, and more. With a 60-year-old building, the Iowa Veterans Home could not best meet the needs of its many patients. Shive-Hattery was tasked with redesigning the Central Supply, Pharmacy, and Respiratory Therapy areas. The primary goal was to update these areas with new compliance standards while also making the spaces more flexible and efficient for the staff. The design would include moving these three departments from the basement to the second floor, which offered an abundance of natural light due to many windows. Space planning and furniture selection were critical to accommodate current needs while maintaining flexibility for future usage.

The  Story

Moving the Central Supply, Pharmacy, and Respiratory Therapy departments to the second floor posed unique challenges. The medication carousel in the pharmacy department weighed 12,000 pounds, which required additional structural reinforcement. The second-floor windows were replaced with double-pane, high-performance windows to improve energy efficiency, and new window shades were added to reduce glare. UV-blocking film was applied to the exterior of the Clean Suite windows to comply with technical restrictions. 

To solve patient and staff congestion throughout the building, Shive-Hattery utilized a previously designed elevator shaft and added a second elevator. The original elevator was upgraded, and the elevator lobbies were updated.

In designing the updated elevator lobby areas, the team required a surfacing product with high impact resistance and a modern high-end look. Rather than demolishing the existing polished block wall, the team chose Crossville Porcelain Tile Panels by Laminam that could be installed directly over the previous materials. Saving demolition time, the team was able to quickly install the porcelain tile panels that are sized at 1m x 3m yet just 3mm in thickness.

Beyond the advantages of the tile-over-block installation and the appeal of the tile’s clean, contemporary style, the I Naturali collection offers the Iowa Veterans Home even more positives. It provides exceptional strength and performance, as well as ease of maintenance—essential characteristics for surfacing that needs to last and look great doing so in such a busy, high-traffic environment of the elevator lobbies.

The design team selected the I Naturali porcelain panels in Ossidiana Vena Grigia to create a clean, fresh palette for the renovated elevator lobby areas. Classic nature-inspired looks are timeless on all projects, and the Ossidiana Vena Grigia provides a beautiful natural stone look that will stand the test of time.