Altru Health System has grown to become one of the largest health networks serving northeast North Dakota and northwest Minnesota. In January 2025, they opened a new 550,000-square-foot state-of-the-art hospital in Grand Forks, ND. Designed by JLG Architects, with guidance from Altru’s Facility Planning Committee, the facility is envisioned as a “Care Center in the Park.” The design carefully balances soothing, patient-focused spaces with efficient workflows that support staff and enhance the overall care experience.

The hospital’s planning phase began in 2017 but was temporarily paused during COVID-19. When work resumed in 2021, the design was reshaped by the lessons of that global event. “These changes include elevated expectations from patients and families, enhanced reliance on technology, broader integration of technology and more stringent infrastructure requirements to ensure continuous care for patients and families,” said Josh Kehrwald, AIA, Managing Principal Architect, JLG Architects. With this approach, Altru’s new facility is well prepared to respond to today’s needs and any future health care challenges.

“Hospitals are complex projects, and the challenges of navigating a pandemic and working within an active health care campus are immense,” said Todd R. Medd, AIA, Healthcare Practice Studio Leader at JLG Architects. “I’m proud of how our team overcame these challenges to expand the level of care and build on Altru’s vision of a world-class ‘Hospital in the Park.’”

From the start, the new Grand Forks facility was about more than creating a new building. The design team approached it as an opportunity to shape spaces that support both the health and wellbeing of everyone inside.

To help realize this, the new hospital incorporates modern infrastructure and a comprehensive range of products to support complex operational demands. This includes a suite of hardware, access control and security solutions from Allegion brands across its patient rooms, hallways, diagnostic suites and the emergency department.

Products Include:

• Sliding doors by AD Systems, which provide workflow efficiency and optimal space utilization
• Glynn-Johnson heavy-duty overhead holders and stops, engineered for durability in continuous-use areas
• Ives hinges and pivots, enabling stable and reliable door operation
• LCN door closers (electric and manual) for controlled movement
• Schlage mechanical and electronic door locks, delivering consistent access control and reliability
• STANLEY Access Technology’s automatic door operators
• Steelcraft hollow metal doors and frames, providing robust performance for high-use health care environments
• Technical Glass Products (TGP) fire-rated glazing in fire-rated doors and X-ray shielding in diagnostic areas
• Unicel Architectural advanced louvered glazing systems, used in patient rooms, hallways and other areas for controlled light, privacy and minimal maintenance
• Von Duprin panic hardware, supporting rapid egress and ease of use in emergency situations

Together, these products help ensure that openings throughout the facility function cohesively. Hardware solutions that work together are critical in high-traffic, multi-use health care environments like Altru Hospital, where doors, walls and glazing are expected to simultaneously meet code compliance, accessibility and performance requirements.

In health care settings, a door is a system component that often influences circulation, privacy, safety and operational flow. Similarly, glazing, locks and access control devices directly affect how spaces function, how reliably doors operate and how access is controlled. At Altru Hospital, Allegion’s portfolio of coordinated products allows these elements to function in concert rather than as isolated components.

For example, Unicel Architectural’s advanced louvered glazing can be adjusted to control sightlines and how much natural light enters the space. This autonomy provides users privacy or visibility when needed. When paired with TGP’s X-ray glass in diagnostic areas and AD Systems’ sliding doors, the openings simultaneously support multiple operational goals. They enable workflow efficiency for staff who can monitor patients while moving efficiently through hallways, users to control light levels and reduce glare as well as preserve privacy where required.

The coordinated specification also amplifies reliability because each component is designed to complement adjacent systems. By functioning as a single, cohesive system, openings experience fewer operational conflicts and help ensure predictable, long-term performance even in high-traffic or high-demand areas.

In a hospital environment that operates around the clock, doors, openings and access systems must do more than meet code compliance. Every movement, whether a nurse rushing to a patient’s room or an evacuation in an emergency, relies on hardware that performs seamlessly.
In such settings, even minor mechanical failures can interrupt workflow, compromise safety or delay patient care. This compounds the importance of durability, reliability and interoperability among door and hardware systems that must work in tandem across the facility to support consistent function and simplify maintenance to minimize downtime.

The specified hardware from Allegion brands is engineered for precisely these demands. For instance, Von Duprin panic hardware provides immediate, intuitive egress with a simple push or lean, supporting a wide range of users, from staff carrying equipment to patients with limited mobility. The devices are built for heavy use and tested to rigorous industry standards, including ANSI/BHMA and UL certifications, helping ensure they operate reliably over hundreds of thousands of cycles. Similarly, Glynn-Johnson overhead holders and stops, as well as LCN door closers, are designed to withstand frequent use while maintaining smooth operation. By combining longevity with precision, these products help maintain performance consistency.

The interoperability of Allegion’s portfolio also has practical implications for maintenance. Products that are designed to work together can be serviced or replaced with minimal disruption to the facility. Additionally, components share standards for durability and performance, so replacements can match original specifications.

With a coordinated approach that unites multiple solutions under one company, every detail, from the door hardware to panic devices on exit doors used at Altru Hospital, reflects Allegion’s commitment to supporting the patient experience and workforce efficiency. “Caring for our community has changed significantly since the 1970s, when the original hospital was constructed,” said Kehrwald. “This new hospital enables Altru to continue to deliver world-class health care for this community for the next 50 years.” Allegion is helping make that possible.

As health care environments continue to evolve, Altru Hospital highlights how hardware systems can help strengthen efficiency today while supporting adaptability for tomorrow. Allegion’s comprehensive portfolio enables facilities to maintain consistent performance and compliance, even as technologies, regulations and models of care advance. Beyond supporting day-to-day functionality, this interoperability gives confidence that each hardware component, from sliding doors to glazing to access control, performs as intended, streamlining specification, installation and long-term maintenance.

By integrating products that share design intent and performance standards, facilities establish a cohesive foundation that can evolve alongside changing operational demands. Whether expanding access control, enhancing patient privacy or upgrading openings for new technologies, such an approach supports more resilient, future-ready health care spaces that are designed not only to perform, but to adapt, respond and endure for years to come.