Rural communities have long been challenged to maintain their local hospitals and medical centers, and the Covid experience stretched their capabilities further. While many facilities have closed during the past five years, though, others have been able to turn their fortunes around, and focusing on their physical plant has been part of that process.
Towner County Medical Center in Cando, N.D., is one of these facilities, and its new 76,000-sq.-ft. building is allowing the organization to include more services relating to preventive care while still addressing acute medical needs. Its barn-like central volume reflects rural influences, with ample use of architectural metal wall panels drawing on a material common to farm structures throughout the surrounding prairie.
Rural communities are more likely to lose a hospital than gain an updated facility these days – 146 rural hospitals closed between 2005 and 2023. So, the upgraded Towner County facility is a rare success story. Opened in June 2024, the 76,000-sq.-ft. center incorporates a 30-bed skilled nursing home, a five-bed critical access hospital, an emergency department, a rural clinic and specialty clinic, and a daycare center. It also offers inpatient and outpatient surgery and chemotherapy.
Designers with Windsor, Colo.-based Infusion Architects wanted Towner County’s patients and families to have a facility they could be proud of, inside and out, and the facility’s exterior shows it. The building features a two-story central volume with a peaked metal roof that echoes the lines of a traditional barn. While the cladding primarily is masonry, architectural metal wall panels are used as accents and soffit to build on the theme of agricultural architecture. Additionally, soffit panels feature a woodgrain finish to create a sense of warmth and welcoming for those walking through the center’s entry portico. The architects, along with installers MG McGrath of Maplewood, Minn., specified Petersen’s PAC-CLAD Flush panels for the exterior cladding and soffit. Wall panels were specified with the company’s Charcoal finish, while the woodgrain soffit features Long Grain Cherry. These panels offer a flush appearance, with concealed fasteners, along with optional clips for greater wind resistance.
Editors: if photos are published the following credit is required: Photos: alanblakely.com
