Camp Pendleton naval hospital reaches milestone

More than 4,000 tons of structural steel has been erected to help top out the 500,000-square foot naval replacement hospital project at Camp Pendleton, and a ceremony was held on Nov. 3 to celebrate the event.

The 70-acre construction site is located near the main gate of Camp Pendleton, and is a joint venture between Clark Construction Group, LLC, and McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. In order to celebrate the occasion, the construction team, with Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) Southwest, performed the traditional placement of the last beam which marked the completion of the hospital’s steel structure.

The services provided by the new hospital will include inpatient medical facilities, ancillary departments, emergency care, primary care, specialty care clinics, support spaces and facilities for non-ambulatory patients with stays in excess of 24 hours. A central utilities plant, a multi-level parking structure and surface parking, and site enhancements such as walking paths are also included in the construction project.

The construction for the hospital, which is scheduled to be completed in Jan. 2014, was funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. It will cost $394 million to build the multi-level hospital, which will accommodate up to 60 beds, 54 patient rooms, ancillary departments, emergency care, primary care, specialty care clinics, and support spaces and facilities for non-ambulatory patients who require stays in excess of 24 hours. The hospital site will also house a 1,500-space parking structure, surface parking and site development.

The project is currently one month ahead of schedule. In order to achieve this level of project completion, the construction team has worked over 250,000 hours in the past 14 months, with “zero lost-time incidents.”

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