Healthcare

Virtua Memorial Hospital Burlington County has completed the $770,000 renovation of its low-risk cardiac catheterization laboratory, including the installation of new imaging technology.

The Veterans Affairs Medical Center is planning to break ground in late 2003 on the first two buildings of its planned $160-million City of Medicine campus in Durham. Totalling 96,000 sf of office and retail space, the two facilities will be developed by LCOR of Berwyn, Pa. The City of Medicine is a mixed-use project comprised of ten new medical research, office, retail, hotel, and apartment buildings. Thirty-five percent of the facilities will be leased to federal government-related tenants. Some VA hospital functions may be relocated to the new development.

Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente has been recognized for notable accomplishments by H2E (Hospitals for a Healthy Environment), a partnership of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the American Hospital Association, the American Nurses Association, and Health Care Without Harm. The Healthy Building Network has also awarded Kaiser for accelerating the shift to healthier building materials with its purchasing actions and policies.

Floyd Memorial Hospital is planning a $50-million expansion of its New Albany, Ind., facility. The 250,00-sf expansion will enhance the hospital's ability to care for cardiac patients and expand other services. Features of the expansion include:

Kaiser Permanente has completed the third phase of the new Harbor MacArthur Medical Office Building in Santa Ana, Calif. Designed by Taylor & Associates Architects of Newport Beach, the three-story, 32,000-sf facility adjoins the existing structure. The entire medical complex forms a comprehensive, 80,000-sf medical facility that provides space for 24 family practice providers, a physical therapy department, a pharmacy, an imaging center, acute care services, lab and blood draw, and visual services, including an optical dispensing department.

The San Diego Cancer Center is working with Bycor General Contractors to develop a two-story, 39,000-sf medical office building in Encinitas. The $4.1-million facility was designed by architect Ware Malcomb.

Christus Santa Rosa Medical Center is planning a $4-million expansion of its San Antonio hospital. Ground will be broken on a new 9,500-sf emergency department in June of 2003. 1,700 sf of space in the current emergency department will be renovated, and additional surface parking created. The expansion will also include the construction of 15 private exam rooms, a "fast-track" area, additional beds, ICU space, operating rooms, support, and waiting room space. The project is slated for completion in spring of 2004.

Palomar Pomerado Health has selected Anshen + Allen of Los Angeles to design the $210-million expansion of Palomar Medical Center in Escondido, Calif. and the $63-million expansion of Pomerado Hospital.

Virtua West Jersey Hospital has completed the $230,000 expansion and renovation of its Stretch Center for Musculoskeletal Treatment in Marlton, N.J. The project includes a 32-bed unit designed to care for the special needs of orthopedic and neurosurgical patients.

Memorial Hermann City Hospital in Houston opened the 18,000-sf Technical Education Center on March 28. The facility centralizes training programs that were previously sited at other hospital system locations. Housing three classrooms accommodating 50 students each, laboratories for nursing, surgical technology and radiology, and faculty offices, the center provides a simulated hospital setting for hands-on training. The surgical lab contains two mock operating rooms with surgical beds, scrub sink, and overhead lights.

Medical Center of Arlington opened the first phase of its $70-million expansion project on March 29, 2003. Part of a three-year development plan begun in January 2002, the expansion includes a new main entrance and a three-story Women's Center and birthing services tower. The center features a Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and all-private birthing rooms. The tower expansion project, based on a platform that supports long-term addition of extended women's services, will affect 175,000 sf and add 69 new private rooms.

Baylor Medical Center of Plano officially broke ground on its new $135-million hospital on March 31, 2003, although work on the facility actually began earlier in the year. Slated to open in mid-to-late 2004, the facility will house 96 inpatient beds, 32 outpatient beds, eight operating rooms, an urgent care center, and a chest pain clinic.

Kaiser Permanente of Santa Clara, Calif., will house outpatient behavioral medicine, chemical dependency services and administrative functions in 100,000 sf of recently leased space in Cupertino. Located near Kaiser's new $800-million hospital in Santa Clara, the facility will feature large meeting rooms.

Sutter Health awarded Skanska USA Building the pre-construction services assignment for the Memorial Medical Center north tower addition, scheduled to be built in Modesto, Calif. The pre-construction phase will begin in the first quarter of 2003. If the project enters the construction phase, which is expected to begin in May 2004, the anticipated construction value could be approximately $105 million.

The Kaiser Family Foundation, based in Menlo Park, Calif., opens its new Washington, D.C., public affairs center on March 27, 2003. The facility features a technologically equipped conference center, a broadcast studio, and a lobby with interactive displays and exhibits including a video wall. Housing 40 employees, the nine-story center will also be available for use by other D.C. nonprofit organizations.