A Nurturing Home for Women’s Health

Sitting high atop Omaha’s western horizon, the Methodist Women’s Hospital is an inspiration for women’s health. The 116-bed facility and a companion medical office building sit on 33 acres just inside the entrance to a suburban neighborhood. The hospital is sensitive to neighborhood scale in its size and its massing. For example, the adjoining medical office building was made a separate building so that arriving residents and patients didn’t immediately face the “hard wall” of a giant building.

The hospital’s design is distinguished by a number of key elements:

• The front lobby is reminiscent of a hotel or spa with its ceiling high water display and custom-made, circular drum light fixtures. A glass staircase leads from the lobby to the second floor and the lit stair tower becomes a beacon at night for the surrounding area.
• Same-handed patient rooms have all the amenities of a hospitality experience, including large-tiled bathrooms with a vanity and mirror, hair dryer, safe, and massage center, all surrounded by coco maple and dark walnut cabinetry.
• Shades of amethyst, jade and sapphire add to generous incoming daylight and beautiful views.
• Meticulous gardens and sweeping landscape design enhance the healing atmosphere and become part of a calming, nurturing experience.
• A Level II NICU includes four multiple baby rooms for twins. There’s also an option for baby to room-in with mom or to stay in a well-baby nursery.
• Through the grounds and the building, shapes are representative of femininity and motherhood. Flowers are embedded into Plexiglas panels in various locations. The outside healing gardens are shaped like a butterfly wing. The hospital and the medical office building together form an arc, likened to outstretched arms and female nurturing.
• All artwork, which is original, is done by one featured female artist, rotating periodically to showcase another’s work.
• The chapel is enclosed by glass panels, beautifully depicting the life path of women from birth to death, and featuring a symbolic pomegranate.