McCarthy, one of the nation’s largest builders of healthcare facilities, recently topped out the new Mission Hospital Patient Care Tower when steel workers from Schuff Steel placed the final structural steel I-beam on the braced-frame steel structure. Steel workers on the project placed approximately 1,000 tons of structural steel while constructing the tower’s frame.
Adorned with an American flag, an evergreen tree and signatures from construction workers, physicians, employees, donors, hospital volunteers and campus visitors from Mission Hospital, a white ceremonial steel beam was lifted to the top of Mission Hospital’s Patient Care Tower during a special ceremony marking the topping out of the building.
“The tradition of attaching a tree and flag to the final structural beam has been practiced by construction workers for over 1000 years,” said McCarthy Project Manager Todd Foos. “Although there are various thoughts as to what the topping out tree symbolizes, construction workers on the Mission Hospital project believe the tree represents growth, life and good luck for the building’s future occupants, and the flag is displayed as a patriotic symbol that signifies the united effort by the project team to achieve a common goal.,” said Foos.
The four-level new Patient Care Tower will increase Mission’s intensive-care capacity including the Williams Family Neuroscience Wing, house 24 medical/surgical beds, advanced diagnostic imaging, the Vitek Institute for Robotic Surgery, nuclear medicine, a Swenson Family Linear Accelerator Suite, a chapel, and the Schumacher Healing Garden. McCarthy is also constructing an underground tunnel and a 175-foot-long pedestrian bridge that will connect the new Patient Care Tower with the main hospital building on the third floor. The new Patient Care Tower is utilizing a braced-frame structural system to reduce the size of the columns and beams and to provide superior seismic performance in compliance with California Senate Bill 1953, which requires strict seismic regulations for all acute care facilities. The main vertical systems such as elevators, stairs, mechanical and electrical shafts are positioned outside the braced floor area. These features maximize the floor-space and provide flexibility to accommodate current and future space needs.
Prior to erecting the new tower, McCarthy conducted 11 months of significant site work such as the installation of new utilities, re-configuring the entrance to the hospital and parking lot and demolishing an existing two-story conference center.
Designed by RBB Architects Inc. of Los Angeles, the new Patient Care Tower’s award-winning architecture is designed to promote healing for patients, a comfortable atmosphere for families and an enhanced state-of-the-art working environment for hospital staff. The project features a chapel in a half-cylinder structure with an inclined roof supported from the top by radial trusses. Additionally, the Schumacher Healing Garden will include sitting areas and lush landscape will be built next to the chapel to evoke serene space for relaxation, prayer and mediation. The chapel and healing garden will be strategically located at the entrance of the new tower as architectural focal points that provide a soft counterpart to the high-tech background of the tower’s exterior skin, and to invite easy access for the entire community. The new Patient Care Tower’s exterior, which will complement the existing tower, is composed of metal panels and an exposed steel braced-frame as well as extensive glazing to provide an abundance of natural light. The project is scheduled to complete in fall 2009.
Part of the St. Joseph Health System based in Orange, Calif., the new Patient Care Tower at Mission Hospital is one of seven facilities McCarthy is currently building for St. Joseph Health System. These include a new Cancer Center, medical office building and parking structure at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, a 407-car parking structure for St. Joseph Health System in Santa Ana, and a medical office building and parking structure at St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton, Calif.
About Mission Hospital
Mission Hospital is a 301-bed acute care, full-service facility serving all of south Orange County and houses the region’s designated trauma center, one of only three in the county. Located in Mission Viejo, Mission Hospital offers a complete array of top-quality healthcare services including Mission Regional Trauma Center and 24-hour emergency care; Mission Heart Center providing cardiac rehabilitation and chest pain center; Mission Maternity Center including special care for high risk pregnancy; Mission Breast Center offering comprehensive breast care and Mission Stroke Center, offering the region’s most comprehensive neurological care and is a certified Primary Stroke Center. Mission Hospital also offers the highest level of care in orthopedics, rehabilitation, cancer, spine, vascular and wellness services. A member of the St. Joseph Health System, the hospital is one of 14 not-for-profit hospitals sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange. CHOC at Mission, a separately licensed pediatric hospital representing a unique partnership with Mission Hospital and Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC), is located on the top floor of Mission Hospital’s patient tower.
About McCarthy
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is the nation’s 10th largest domestic general contractor (Engineering News-Record, May 2008) and has been ranked among the top five national healthcare builders by Modern Healthcare since the magazine began its annual ranking more than 30 years ago. In Southern California, the firm has completed over $1.4 billion in healthcare work for the region’s most elite healthcare institutions. In addition to Newport Beach, McCarthy has offices in San Diego, Sacramento and San Francisco, Calif.; Phoenix; Las Vegas; Dallas; St. Louis and Atlanta. McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned. More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com
