CPL teamed with Rochester Regional Health (RRH) to create RRH's new pediatric, OB/GYN and Healthcare for the Homeless offices at St. Mary’s Hospital in Rochester, NY, and celebrated a ribbon cutting this summer.

The project that centered on community outreach and accessible, high-quality healthcare for the City of Rochester and surrounding areas also featured an all-woman design and construction management team. These women included CPL’s Michelle Trott, AIA, NCARB, ACHA, Healthcare Principal; Jennifer LaChance, AIA, LEED AP, BD+C, Architect; and Courtney Ter-Velde, NCIDQ, LEED Green Associate, Interior Designer. The project management team extended to Melissa Wentland, Project/Construction Manager at DGA Builders and Michelle Schleher, LEED AP, RRH Senior Construction Project Manager. Furthermore, the core user team at St. Mary’s was all-woman.

The Framework was Female

“I was honored to work on a project for women, with women,” said Ter-Velde. “At first, I didn’t realize the dynamic. I was aware while talking to the construction manager and project managers that they are women, but it didn’t stand out to me as something surprising.”

“With any project, personnel are picked based on who is the best person for job, who is the best team, who are the best resources,” continued Ter-Velde. “It happened to be all female.”

At CPL, it’s no rarity that women serve in leadership roles, Trott and LaChance assured. But this is often not the case.

“It was refreshing to work with an all-woman leadership team!” said Schleher. “Women are naturally great communicators, and this particular design team was extremely accommodating and collaborated with each other often to keep the project on schedule and in budget.”

This project was special because it integrated women leaders in and outside of the company to work with women users on the client side, and eventually benefit women patients.

“Women design and construction teams are an anomaly, but if more all-female teams were to exist in the future, I believe it would open the eyes of other females to realize that STEM careers can be exciting and rewarding,” said Schleher.

“As President of the Rochester chapter of the NAWIC (National Association of Women in Construction), my eyes are always open to women in the construction and design fields. I noticed right away that the leadership team was all-women and was very excited to be a part of it,” said Wentland. “Our particular team worked very well together and we could provide many future successful projects together if given the chance. As much as I want to say women should lead every project, I don’t think we were successful because we were all women, but because we worked together for the better of the project and we were a cohesive team. As with any group or team though, it is diverse background and points of view that will change the future of construction, management, design, engineering, or anything for that matter. Men and women of different backgrounds and expertise need to be able to share their knowledge and learn from each other in order to grow,” Wetland said.

St. Mary’s First Floor Resurrected

With the project completed, community and RRH staff alike will take advantage of the transformed space.

“This project was important to the community because it makes better use of a facility that has so much history in Rochester since it was founded in 1857,” explained Wentland.

The 161-year-old building houses many programs to support the surrounding community. This project took space within a section of the building that needed serious upgrades and was able to move in two practices that were outside of the building.

“My favorite part of this project was seeing the transformation from start to finish,” said LaChance. “We made use of an underutilized space that was mostly vacant and used for storage. Now, it is a vibrant space in a perfect location for outpatient access.”

The project began in early 2018 with a grant from New York State and the goal of culminating many healthcare services into one place as a “one stop shop” for disadvantaged community members. As a benefit, these adjoining healthcare offices are able to share resources, and the staff has the collective support they need in one space.

“We literally gutted the entire thing,” explained LaChance. “We cleared the footprint and started from scratch, and it came out great.”

Reconstruction included a floor plan that allowed staff to access any area from the center hub, while secure entrances separated the obstetrics unit, pediatrics unit, and community outreach unit. Trott and LaChance listened to the needs of the end-users at St. Mary’s and created a functional, modern, and efficient space.

“What I find fascinating is when the community has access to clean, modern, and safe healthcare facilities, return rates increase. They are more apt to come back and get the preventative care and healthcare they need,” Trott said.

“Your socio-economic standing shouldn’t dictate the quality of care or the quality of the facility. We were able to provide a facility for a community that oftentimes is underrepresented,” said Ter-Velde. “The state of the building you’re in has a real impact on your emotional and physical well-being.”

This is why the design of the renovated offices emitted welcoming, comfortable spaces that are less institutionalized, and integrate with wellness and health.

“This renovated space will be impactful to the patients it serves because it is bright, welcoming and equipped with the proper tools and equipment to serve the community,” said Schleher. “The Rochester Regional staff that reside in and around this new space have also been invigorated and look forward to working there.”

An Outstanding Team

“The management team was easy to work with, and we completed the project on time, within budget, and without any problems,” said Trott. “The construction went smoothly and the coordination with the users was great.”

“It is always a pleasure to work with the CPL team,” said Schleher. “They are knowledgeable, accommodating and great team players .Looking forward to working on the next one with them!”

Every interaction with CPL has been friendly, professional, timely, and knowledgeable,” Wentland added. “The team was on the same page and I hope to work with CPL on many more projects!”