Rush University Medical Center
Nuclear Medicine Pharmacy and Clean Room
Salas O’Brien delivered mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire protection engineering to help Rush University Medical Center remodel an existing space into a nuclear medicine pharmacy suite.
Our client
Rush University Medical Center (RUMC) is a key member of the larger Illinois-based Rush Health System, which includes hospitals, clinics, and a medical university. Today’s massive Rush network all began with Rush Medical College, which received its charter two days before the incorporation of Chicago. Today, RUMC and its connected medical university are pillars of the Chicago area.
Project highlights
Their challenge
RUMC wanted to design a new pharmacy suite for packaging nuclear medicine. Nuclear medicine imaging uses small amounts of radioactive materials that are swallowed, inhaled, or injected into patients to let doctors see unique images of functions inside the body. Rush’s Nuclear Medicine division conducts around 7,000 nuclear medicine procedures a year. Due to the radioactive nature of these materials, they needed a place specifically designed for safe packaging.
Our solution
We helped remodel an existing 700-square-foot OT/PT space on the 14th floor of the East Tower into a pharmacy suite designed for packaging nuclear medicine. This new suite houses a workroom, ISO Class 7 anteroom, and ISO Class 7 clean room designed to meet USP 797 standards. The new clean room contains a recirculating laminar flow hood, and the room’s design includes all the necessary infrastructure to support a RIVA machine installation planned for the future.
The results
With this new pharmaceutical suite, RUMC can safely use state-of-the-art equipment for packaging nuclear medicine to help diagnose or treat patients with thyroid disease, coronary artery disease, certain kinds of cancer, and more.


