Healthcare

Ridgecrest Regional Hospital is preparing to begin construction on a $5.9-million Outpatient Services Center/Medical Office Building in Ridgecrest, Calif. Project contractor McCarthy will build a new 25,935-sf, two-level facility sited next to the existing hospital. The first floor will house outpatient services, ancillary space including a lobby and reception area, administrative offices, a staff lounge, and other support functions. The second floor will be shelled out for future occupancy of physician medical office space.

Wichita Clinic broke ground on August 26, 2004 on a 120,000-sf day surgery center and medical office complex at Founders' Circle in Wichita, Kan. Designed by architectural firm Wilson Darnell Mann , the $26-million facility will house an 8,000-sf digital imaging center and provide services in pain management, orthopedics, ear, nose, and throat, physical therapy, opthalmology, and general surgery. The general contractor for the project is Hutton Construction. Construction is expected to reach completion in fall of 2005.

John Muir/Mt. Diablo Health System plans to consolidate the two-hospital system’s cardiac care in a new Cardiovascular Center of Excellence by 2009. The center will be constructed adjacent to the existing 254-bed Mt. Diablo Medical Center in Concord , Calif., as part of a broader $110 million upgrade. John Muir/Mt. Diablo Health System is planning upgrades to both locations totaling over $400 million that will include modernization of patient rooms and access, seismic retrofitting, and enhancements to clinical areas of excellence.

Cape Fear Valley Health System has awarded Skanska USA Building Inc. the construction management services assignment to build an addition to the Cape Fear Valley Medical Center in Fayetteville , N.C. The 300,000-sf, $90 million project consists of a patient care tower including an emergency department; inpatient imaging; a heart and vascular center; a 24-bed critical care unit; a 48-bed medical surgical unit; and mechanical support. Also included will be a parking deck for 500 cars and 50,000 sf of renovations to the existing hospital.

Centene Corp., a provider of managed care programs services, is planning to open a 50,000-sf processing facility on 25 acres in Great Falls , Mont. The first stage of the project describes the completion of an 8,000-sf temporary facility in November 2004 with the permanent structure scheduled to open in July 2005. The initial cost of the project is estimated at $7 million.

Children's Mercy Hospital South in Overland Park, Kan. has completed an expansion that quadrupled the hospital's size from 47,580 sf to 189,000 sf. Increasing bed count from 17 to 50, the project also expanded the urgent care center, radiology, and lab space and added two inpatient units. The cost of the project, which began in July 2002, was over $30 million.

Mercy Hospital opened its new $40 million heart center in Coon Rapids, Minn., in August 2004. Adding three floors to the hospital, the project created 24 new inpatient rooms and 14 short-stay rooms. The expansion also accommodates a women's cardiovascular center, a sleep disorders center, a vascular center, catheterization labs, emergency services, and pediatric rehabilitation services. Construction began on the heart center in January of 2003. Mercy Hospital is owned by Minneapolis-based Allina Hospitals and Clinics.

Twelve Oaks Medical Center broke ground in August 2004 on a $14 million expansion of its River Oaks Hospital campus. Project contractor D.E. Harvey Builders of Houston will construct a new ambulatory care center on the first level and six new operating rooms on the second level. Completion is expected in 14 months. Twelve Oaks recently completed a $13 million renovation at the River Oaks campus: the eighth floor of its patient tower was renovated and dedicated to spinal care.

SSM St. Joseph Hospital will open a 36,000-sf medical facility at The Legends in Eureka , Mo., in spring of 2005. The $5-million project will house an urgent care center, an imaging center, offices for primary care and specialty physicians, rehabilitation, and laboratory services. An ambulatory surgery center will be constructed in the future.

Emory University School of Medicine has selected The S/L/A/M Collaborative to provide architectural, engineering, and interior design services for the renovation and expansion of the Anatomy and Physiology buildings in Atlanta. Slated for completion in year-end 2007, the $37 million project involves comprehensive renovation and adaptive reuse of two historic buildings; programming, design, and construction of 100,000-sf of new space; and demolition of an outdated connector building.

St. Josesph Medical Center will construct a new 60,000-sf facility in Towson, Md. The building, which will be the fourth on St. Joseph's campus, will house a cancer center and physician offices. Project contractor DASCO Cos. will initiate construction in December 2004; completion is slated for fall 2005. Designed by Cochran, Stephenson & Donkervoet of Baltimore, the facility will be linked by a covered walkway to an adjacent parking garage.

Texas Tech University is developing two new facilities, the Clinical Tower & Research Center (CT&RC) and the International Pain Institute (IPI) at the Health Sciences Center Campus in Lubbock , Texas . The new CT&RC will consolidate much of the clinical care currently in two other buildings into one patient-friendly building. Valued at $33,000,000, the CT&RC is composed of 142,000-sf of new construction and 23,000-sf of renovated space.

OSF St. Joseph Medical Center , located in Bloomington , Illinois , has completed its $20.4-million, 88,000-sf cardiac and intensive care addition. Including 32 universal patient rooms which comprise the ICU and PICU, the three-level facility also houses family support spaces, cardiac diagnostic and treatment areas, and physician clinics. Additionally, the project entailed the relocation and expansion of the hospital’s emergency department. The facility was designed by Christner Inc. of Clayton , Mo. , and was built by contractor McCarthy.

Presbyterian Hospital of Plano has initiated construction on a third, 261,000-sf bed tower in Plano , Texas . In addition to the new construction, the project will include the renovation of 108,000 sf of existing space. The $120-million project will expand the hospital by 40% and marks the second major expansion of the hospital since it opened in 1991. When completed in late fall of 2005, the eight-story tower will provide 93 acute care beds, 30 intensive care (ICU) beds, 54 neonatal intensive care beds (NICU), 72 newborn nursery bassinets, and an expanded emergency department.

St. Louis-based BJC HealthCare is building Progress West Healthcare Center in O’Fallon, Mo. The $75-million, 72-bed hospital will employ 300 health-care professionals when it opens in early 2006.