Healthcare

South Texas Medical Center has planned $136 million in capital projects for the current year, with projects totalling $165 million planned for the next five years. Ground was broken on the Children's Cancer Research Center, a $50-million facility providing space for up to 18 principal researchers and their staff. The Children's Cancer Center is part of a $67-million development at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, which will also include an academic administration and student services facility.

An expansion of the Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center will create a new $160-million "City of Medicine Center". The mixed-use campus will include research labs, private-sector medical office buildings, educational-administrative offices, residential facilities and retail space. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is joining national real estate firm LCOR of Pennsylvania in developing the City of Medicine Center, which is slated to begin construction in four to six months.

The Children's Hospital of Denver has selected Houston-based FKP Architects, Inc. to lead the architectural team for its new hospital at the Fitzsimons campus. As architect of record, FKP will oversee all planning of medical space, working with Zimmer, Gunsul, Frasca Partnership (ZGF) of Portland as principal designer. Denver's H+L Architecture will handle construction documentation and contract administration. Children's main hospital currently operates out of eight adjacent buildings on its main campus in Denver.

Rex Hospital of Raleigh has initiated a $20-million remodeling and construction project that will add two new outpatient operating rooms, a new admission and registration entryway, and a new four-level parking deck providing an additional 410 spaces for visitors. The project is slated for completion in two years.

Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente Health Plan is planning to spend $375 million on a new 1.2 million-sf hospital and 870,000-sf medical office building in Santa Clara, doubling Kaiser's current Santa Clara facilities.  A new $7-million emergency department will be added to Kaiser's Santa Teresa Hospital in South San Jose, more than tripling its existing 5,000-sf emergency facilities. A hospital in Redwood City is still in the planning stage.

Burlington County's Virtua Memorial Hospital has completed its new $19.6-million expansion and renovation project initiated in December of 1999. The 45,000-sf addition provides space for new operating rooms including a 26-bed critical-care unit and a cardiac-catheterization suite. Oversized operating rooms have the capacity to support advanced neurosurgical and orthopedic equipment. In the existing hospital building, 15,000 sf of space was renovated to expand the lobby and house a conference center, cafe, and gift shop.

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, a non-profit health care philanthropy, is building a 96,000-sf office and public affairs center in Washington.

Children's Medical Center of Dallas selected McCarthy to build a $17.8 million, 2,500-car parking garage at Dallas Market Center. Ground was recently broken on the design-build structure which will provide much needed space for employee and visitor parking. The project, designed by architect Carl Walker, Inc., is part of a long-term growth initiative to increase services and capacity at the hospital's main location.

Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Walnut Creek, Calif., has selected architects Ratcliff of Emeryville, Calif., to design a new emergency department. The 32,000-sf facility will feature 52 private-visit rooms and will accommodate 73,000 patient visits per year. Slated to open in September 2003, the new emergency department will be 2.5 times the size of Kaiser's existing Walnut Creek emergency facilities.

Jordan Hospital has selected Newton-based TRO, The Ritchie Organization, as architect for the Plymouth hospital's ten-year expansion project. Construction management will be provided by the Needham office of Gilbane Building Co., with Brookline-based Dunster Associates as project manager. The cancer center, the emergency department and outpatient services will be expanded.

Kaiser Permanente is leasing a new $12-million facility in Daly City slated for occupancy in the fourth quarter of 2002. Designed by MBH Architects of Alameda, the 120,000-sf medical building will house additional space for women's services, adult medicine, and the entire ophthalmology department. Developed by Dewey Land Co. of San Mateo, Calif., and CKAM of Palo Alto, Calif., the facility is being built by general contractor South Bay Construction.  

The University of California, San Francisco is planning a 150,000-sf neurosurgery, urology and cancer center serving advanced research. The $85-million building, still in a "very preliminary" stage, could be located on the University's Mt. Zion campus in San Francisco. The neurological research building will be accompanied by a $600-million project replacing existing hospitals due to cramped medical research space and inadequate seismic standards. After plans are approved, it could take at least 10 years to open the new hospital facilities.

Riverside Methodist Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, has awarded the Columbus office of Turner Construction Company the contract to build a new $47 million Heart Hospital. Construction is scheduled for completion in February 2004. Turner is the general contractor. This project is a joint venture between Turner Construction Company and Elford Construction of Columbus. The new facility will be three stories tall with a basement.

Beaumont Hospital's $42 million Laboratory/Research Building expansion at the hospital's Royal Oak, Mich., campus was planned and designed by Detroit-based HarleyEllis. The 131,000-sf, five-story addition opened in May 2001 and consists of new laboratory space with a fully automated blood analysis line as well as clinical pathology offices. The project also included the renovation of lab areas within the main hospital and a new pedestrian tunnel linking the Research Building to the materials handling dock.

The Children's Hospital of Oakland is planning a $24-million, 13,300-sf expansion as well as a 14,960-sf renovation. The project would provide MRI space, expand ER facilities, and increase diagnostic rooms.