Medical

Set to transform medical education in Hagerstown, MD, the Meritus School of Osteopathic Medicine’s Academic Building is a testament to progress and dedication. With construction commencing in fall 2023, this 5-story, 200,815 square feet structure, led by Davis Construction, represents an investment of 85 to 90 million dollars.

Located within the Meritus Health campus, the Academic Building is slated to welcome its inaugural class in 2025, offering a comprehensive four-year curriculum. Boasting a residence hall for 200-250 students, the facility fosters a vibrant community conducive to learning and growth.

Featuring three expansive lecture halls, a library, medicine lab, simulation center, and study areas, the building is equipped with cutting-edge amenities to facilitate immersive learning experiences. Additionally, a conference center accommodating up to 600 attendees underscores its commitment to fostering academic discourse and collaboration.

Kaempf and Harris are proud partners in this endeavor, contributing their expertise to ensure optimal functionality and airflow within the building. Through their diligent efforts, the Meritus School of Osteopathic Medicine’s Academic Building stands poised to shape the future of healthcare education and practice in the region.

In 1994, a 100-acre site located in the US Army base at Fort Meade, Maryland, was assigned to the US Congress to provide additional storage capacity for the Library of Congress.

State-of-the-art storage modules are being built to house, preserve, and protect the library’s various collections that include books, bound periodicals, maps, manuscripts, prints, photographs, sheet music and microfilm.

The storage units are being designed and constructed in phases and additional units can be added if necessary. If needed, the site can accommodate a total thirteen units adding up to 180,600 square feet of archival storage for the library’s collections.

The design of the storage modules focuses on reducing the risk of damage to the items by considering temperature, humidity control, air quality, lighting levels, proper building materials and fire protection.

The storage modules are kept at 50 degrees Fahrenheit consistently with a humidity level of 35%. The optimal cool and dry environmental conditions in the modules will help to preserve the items sixfold from an expected 40 years on Capitol hill to an estimated 240 years at Fort Meade.

As of 2017, five of the modules had been erected. In early 2020 Kaempf and Harris was contracted by Warner Mechanical to install the sheet metal and accessories in storage module number six.

Materials installed by Kaempf and Harris throughout the year-long project included: 112,000 pounds of sheet metal, one Air Handling Unit, two Dehumidification Units, 183 registers, grilles, and diffusers, seven fans, 56 fire/smoke dampers, and the flues off both of the dehumidification units and boiler.

The biggest challenge faced was the layout of the ductwork in conjunction with the 30-foot-high shelving units.

Both the supply and return air ducts were routed above the shelving unit. Extremely intricate coordination had to result with the duct and shelving to ensure that the duct branch lines and drops served the precise locations at the shelving units. Air flow and cooling of the module is the most critical part of the project.
The project started in February of 2020 and was completed in February of 2021.

The first containers holding sheet music, were placed on the shelves in the module on August 16th, 2021. The expectation is that another 16 million items will be placed on the shelves in the next three years.

Upon completion of the project, all the members of the Kaempf and Harris team including management, shop fabricators, and field installers, were extremely proud of what had accomplished and know that in part of our efforts, we are helping preserve these historic materials for future generations.

Bringing State Of The Art Cancer Treatment To Frederick Residents

Frederick’s Rose Hill Cancer Center, located on Opossumtown Pike, now known as the James M. Stockman Cancer Institute, is a state-of-the-art center for the treatment of cancer for the residents of Frederick, Maryland, and the surrounding area.

Mechanically, the construction of this 3-story facility included more than 75,000 lbs. of sheet metal, and over 300 registers, grilles and diffusers, as well as 103 linear diffusers. Additionally, the building contains, 8 ACU’s, 3 AHU’s, 4 fans, and almost 70 VAV’s. Kaempf and Harris’ portion of the work was completed in just under one year.

Kaempf and Harris, along with Trinity (architect), Leach Wallace Associates (mechanical engineers), Gilbane (CM), Emjay (mechanical contractor), and all trades worked in unison to ensure the project was completed per the schedule. Particularly challenging were the 3 vaults, that house the (2) linear accelerators, and a brand new CyberKnife, one of the few in Maryland.

Kaempf and Harris is proud to be a part of such an important medical facility, which will serve our own families and friends here in the Frederick Community.

Remodeling Frederick Memorial Hospital without disrupting operations

The Frederick Memorial Hospital FMH-MFP project was 85% remodel and 15% new construction. This project spanned a two and a half year period.

The project required over 100,000 pounds of galvanized metal, stainless steel, and aluminum ductwork. This project also included 14 exhaust fans and 486 registers, grilles, and diffusers.

The areas of new construction consisted of a new emergency entrance, as well as a new ambulatory entrance.

The remodeled areas included constructing a new MRI room, an endoscopy wing, and renovations to patient rooms. Additionally, the entire imaging suite was remodeled along with 50% of the emergency department. This was accomplished while maintaining the spaces critical to operation for the hospital that were outside of the construction space.

Due to the complexity of the project, including ensuring and maintaining a fully operating medical facility, Kaempf and Harris worked intently with Gilbane and Leach Wallace, as well as the other trades. This cooperation was critical in keeping the necessary elements of the contract drawings, determining the sizing and routing of the ductwork, and assisting in locating services of other trades.

The remodel work required Kaempf and Harris to field measure and assemble the entire portion of the renovation project. Our foreman Greg McKinley, did an outstanding job assisting in the design, as was stated many times by the Gilbane team.

Renovation and New Wing Bring Cancer Care Closer to Home

Carroll Hospital embarked on a two-phase construction project that included the first floor demolition of the existing building and the addition of a brand new, high-tech cancer center wing. On time delivery of the HVAC system was critical to minimizing disruption to the hospital’s day-to-day operations, including patient and employee activities. The Kaempf & Harris team adjusted to unexpected design-build challenges, overcame tight ceiling spaces (about 18 inches on average when 2 to 3 feet is normal) and wove the HVAC ductwork between and around the intricate network of medical equipment housed in an already tight ceiling space.

Kaempf & Harris finished their portion of the project well ahead of schedule, providing ample lead-time for the general and mechanical contracting teams to complete their work on time and within budget. Through strong coordination and teamwork with Carroll Hospital, Lend Lease and EMJAY Mechanical, cancer patients no longer have to travel to Baltimore for treatment. They can get great cancer care they need closer to home.