Named “March LifeCare Campus” www.marchlifecare.com the 10-year, $3.3 billion construction project for March Healthcare Development will become a unique “city” encompassing 246 acres, housing some six million square feet of health related structures including: a hospital, medical office buildings, retail, a hotel, a continuing care retirement community, wellness centers and healing gardens as well as facilities for veterans, skilled nursing, spiritual healing and ambulatory care.

Governor Schwarzenegger summed up the significance of the massive project: “This is going to become known as the ‘Mayo Clinic ‘of the West… and during construction, 12,700 construction workers will be employed. After completion, 7,200 permanent healthcare related jobs will be created.”

The March LifeCare Campus project begins at a time when the Inland Empire area suffers some of the worst unemployment in the nation while experiencing a shortage in necessary healthcare. State, county and local support for the project is unprecedented.

“We’re seeing an ongoing state and local community commitment to redevelop an area that is in much need of economic growth and additional healthcare capacity,” said Michael Tuohy, McCarthy’s project director for March LifeCare. 

At the ceremony, two heavy duty Link Belt demolition machines were ordered by the Governor to start taking down the first of over 16 structures to make way for the 1.4 million-square-foot first phase of the three phase project.

McCarthy is the general contractor for the current $4.5 million demolition work and Master Builder for the program’s overall construction. U.S. Demolition Co. of Anaheim began the take-down of the first building at the ceremony.

March Healthcare Development (MHD) led by Managing Director and Project Leader Donald N. Ecker, has spent six years formulating the overall concept of the unique health and wellness venue. “We are pleased to have a firm with McCarthy’s reputation as part of our world-class team,” said Ecker. “At the Demolition Ceremony, the Governor recognized McCarthy as ‘the number one builder of hospitals in California.’”

Internationally renowned architectural firm HOK designed the Master Plan for the March LifeCare Campus.

About McCarthy
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest construction firms 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 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.

Designed by the San Francisco office of Anshen+Allen, the new $260 million Acute Care Pavilion is the first acute care facility in the state to meet the rigorous standards for quality and safety mandated by the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD), while also achieving the level of occupant health and environmental sustainability required to earn LEED-Certified status. The facility will be equipped and staffed to receive patients on October 10.

“Construction oversight of OSHPD facilities adds a heightened level of complexity to already complicated healthcare construction projects in California, based on the state’s strict criteria for passing project inspections, reviews and approvals,” said Dan Stone of CCQA Inc., inspector-of-record for the project. “McCarthy skillfully managed the many construction details to meet the agency’s high standards.”

OSHPD oversight of California hospitals stems from the 1971 Sylmar earthquake, which caused several hospitals to collapse, endangering the lives of hundreds of patients and hampering the hospitals’ ability to provide emergency care to the injured. In 1973 the state of California passed the Alfred E. Alquist Hospital Seismic Safety Act and, ever since, construction of acute care and psychiatric hospitals, as well as multi-story skilled nursing homes and intermediate care facilities, in the state has been governed by this legislation. The standards not only help enforce patient safety during the earthquake, but also ensure that facilities can continue to function and care for the injured following earthquakes.

For the Acute Care Pavilion, Rady Children’s Hospital employed one onsite inspector-of-record and three field inspectors, bound to the letter of the law. McCarthy served the integral role of working through all construction issues, developing proactive solutions, documenting every discussion and construction activity, and communicating with OSHPD inspectors, who visited the site three times a week. Not a single detail of the project could afford to be overlooked, from the drilling operation that involved the installation of individual 60-foot-deep by eight-inch-wide holes to accommodate seismic tie-down rods, to the torque of each bolt. Building Information Modeling (BIM) allowed the construction team to address many of the seismic issues.

Rady Children’s Hospital is the only dedicated child-specific medical center in the San Diego region, and demand for services had outgrown its existing facilities. The new 279,000-square foot Acute Care Pavilion was built on a tight, 148,650-square-foot site at the southeast end of the hospital campus, adjacent to the existing Rose Pavilion. Second- and third-floor bridges and a ground-floor walkway connect the existing facility to the new four-story building.

When equipped, the Acute Care Pavilion will house a much-needed surgical center, 84 medical-surgical beds, a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), and a cancer center. It also will provide 16 operating rooms with associated support departments, a 28-bed hematology and oncology unit, and a 10-bed bone marrow transplant intensive care unit.

The facility’s exterior features a glass-fiber reinforced, precast concrete exterior; integral-colored plaster; storefront and curtain wall glass systems with colored accents; metal panels and railings; and a billowing steel front entry canopy carrying the hospital’s “kite” insignia.

“Rady Children’s Hospital has been committed to incorporating green practices throughout its operations for many years, so when it came time for us to expand, we set on a mission to become the largest children’s hospital in the state with a world-class LEED Certified facility,” said Tim Jacoby, vice president of facilities for Rady Children’s Hospital, who led the successful team collaboration.  “Due to the degree of difficulty in meeting OSHPD and LEED requirements simultaneously, we knew the McCarthy team would be up against a huge challenge. Meeting our goal was not only a significant achievement for the hospital, but a milestone for the state of California.”

To knowledgeably address the LEED aspects of the project and carry through the facility’s sustainable design in a thoughtful, practical manner, McCarthy employed a dedicated LEED accredited professional and, since the project began in early 2008, 10 of the construction team’s members have become LEED APs.

“Construction execution required rigorous tracking and monitoring, along with a great deal of creative solution-finding, to keep the project on course toward LEED Certification,” said Steve Van Dyke, project director for McCarthy. “The construction team took extra measures and precautions at every turn to ensure compliance with the LEED credits.”

Working in accordance with LEED 2.1, the project team is on track to receive 31 of the 25 points needed to become LEED Certified. Eric Lum, LEED AP, has served as LEED project coordinator for Anshen+Allen, spearheading the design application review, and Don Sadler, AIA, LEED AP, served as principal-in-charge for the design firm. McCarthy is in the process of submitting the construction documentation needed for official certification.

Since beginning the LEED application process for this project, the U.S. Green Building Council has rolled out the LEED 3.0 for Healthcare Green Building Rating System, which is likely to make it more enticing for hospitals to seek LEED certification. LEED 3.0 for Healthcare is more applicable, addressing such specific issues as increased sensitivity to chemicals and pollutants, traveling distances from parking facilities, and access to natural spaces.

The new Rady Children’s Hospital Acute Care Pavilion has earned an “Innovation in Design” credit for the introduction of a series of healing gardens that utilize sustainable design principles and embrace the hospital’s healing arts program, which originally was developed in 1993 in conjunction with the Rose Pavilion construction. The program seeks to enrich the experience of patients, families and staff via visual and performing arts, and through the creation of healing gardens that draw on artists’ talents to transform normally lackluster courtyards into whimsical, outdoor retreats.

 In conjunction with the hospital’s healing arts program, the new Acute Care Pavilion provides an environment focused on the needs and imaginations of children — one that is also intended to help relieve the stress of families with sick or injured children. Central to the theme of the building is the “River of Life”, manifested through an immense, four-story mineral panel that incorporates a kinetic lighting system, which radiates a rainbow of vibrant colors through the front entry curtain wall. A mosaic tile version of the “River of Life” flows from the mineral lobby wall, out the front door and into the first-floor courtyard, which serves as one of several healing gardens.

Named “Carley’s Magical Gardens”, these playful, landscaped areas were designed through the collaboration of local artists T.J. Dixon, Kim Emerson, Albert De Matteis, and James Nelson. The first floor garden off the main entry, intended for use by parents and siblings, sets the stage for the whimsical themes experienced throughout the facility.

Located on the second floor off the hematology and oncology unit, the primary healing garden features a giant, tiled bird with a place for patients to deposit their wishes, which staff will later collect in order to better understand the children’s wants and needs. A life-size bronze figure of a young girl sitting at an eight-foot-long table is the centerpiece of the second-floor healing garden, and provides a place for organized activities and family gatherings. Other fanciful objects include a mosaic tile and concrete tree playhouse, complete with Hot Wheels tracks; a privacy bench; performance stage; and interactive garden screens and gates. A divided basketball playing area accommodates both regular and immune-deficient patients.

On the third floor is a landscaped bamboo garden with a rubber-surfaced playing area for patients and a retreat area for staff members. A vast ground-floor outdoor terrace, strictly for staff use, features Jacaranda trees, white light posts and bike racks.

Each floor of the building embraces its own nature theme – including sea, beach, sky and outer space – that are carried out with objects woven into the flooring, stamped ceiling tiles, nurse station vitrines, patient room and ceiling soffit murals, etched glass doors, restroom tile and lighting fixtures. The fourth-floor neonatal intensive care center accommodates 32 bassinettes, and features serpentine nurse stations that give staff a line of sight at all times. Patient rooms contain bathrooms with bathtubs or showers. Large wooden Nana doors surround the main reception and NICU desks for patient privacy.

The project team achieved 23 percent below Title 24 requirements for energy efficiency by utilizing the LEED Energy Cost Budget methodology. This was achieved by incorporating: 1) occupancy sensors in operating rooms to reduce the ventilation rate by 60 percent when unoccupied, yielding a 45 percent annual energy savings; 2) variable frequency drives on air handling unit motors to adjust the fan speed due to filter loading; 3) carbon dioxide monitoring for high occupancy areas to reduce ventilation rates, based on the number of occupants; 4) a supply air temperature reset strategy, which saves energy by adjusting air temperatures based on load; 5) a 24,000-square-foot cogeneration plant that provides free heating and high temperature water, and contains two 700-ton natural gas-fired absorption chillers; and 6) variable frequency drives on cooling tower fans and hot water pumps.

The project also utilizes recycled and locally obtained steel, concrete and other building materials; low VOC-emitting paints, glues, carpet, and wood; water-efficient landscaping; abundant daylighting, even at operating rooms; and a dedicated bicycle storage area. A reflective concrete “cool roof” system helps minimize heat gain and control rainwater run-off, and painted steel screens conceal rooftop mechanical systems.  
Nearly 80 percent of construction waste materials at the job site was recycled. The project team went above and beyond the LEED requirements by declaring the entire hospital campus a “no smoking” zone. A thorough, 14-day flush-out of the building began upon construction completion.

KPFF of San Francisco served as the structural engineer; RBF, San Diego, civil engineer; Randall Lamb, San Diego, electrical engineer; Shadpour Consulting Engineers, San Diego, mechanical engineer; and Royston Hanamoto Alley & Abey of Mill Valley was the landscape architect.

About McCarthy
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest construction firms 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 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.

“This design-build delivery process provides a greater level of coordination and collaboration between the design and the construction phases,” said Steven Mynsberge, executive vice president and healthcare business leader for McCarthy in Southern California. “We are currently targeting construction completion for summer 2011, but this process allows the designer and builder to work side-by-side as a cohesive team throughout the entire process. As such, this process better positions us to deliver the new facility sooner than anticipated.”

“South Health Center creates a gateway to the Martin Luther King, Jr., Medical Center Campus that will help to introduce the community to the expanded public health services that will be offered at the new facility and on the campus,” notes Randy Regier, president of TAYLOR. “With its contemporary architectural presence rendered in playful geometric forms, community inspired art program and welcoming sidewalk approach, the building is an important step in repositioning the entire medical district.”

Designed with a highly visible, double-height, glass enclosed entry lobby, the two-story structure also houses a community room on the north side of the building. Open to community groups seeking meeting rooms, the space includes glass window walls that open onto the pedestrian plaza which can be used as an outdoor space for health fairs and other activities.

The facility is on track to achieve its targeted LEED gold (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification goals with a design that takes advantage of its site in a high density location that offers easy access to public transit, and a smaller parking lot to encourage its use. For the building, the designers incorporated products with renewable and recycled content, low-VOC materials for surfaces and finishes, highly efficient mechanical systems and low-flow plumbing fixtures and a white roof. Thermally-efficient glazing contributes to energy savings while the large windows in the atrium and conference area bring in natural light. 

The L.A. County South Health Center will provide services such as testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases and tuberculosis, as well as immunizations. In addition, it will also house administrative offices for public health nurses and health investigators.

Completion is anticipated in the summer 2011.
 
About TAYLOR:
TAYLOR is a full–service architectural and interior design practice focused exclusively on healthcare. The 60-person firm has built a strong regional practice and national reputation with a commitment to “Promoting Wellness through Architecture,” clients of the firm include: Miller Children’s Hospital in Long Beach, CA, St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton, CA, Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach, CA, Scripps Health in San Diego, CA and Kaiser Permanente. For more information on the firm visit www.TAA1.com

About McCarthy
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest construction firms 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 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.

“McCarthy strives to maintain its reputation for being the one of the safest contractors,” said Bruce Fuller, safety director for McCarthy’s Texas Division. “This recognition from MD Anderson proves once again that our partners recognize our continuous efforts in keeping everyone safe and gives us a chance to thank the employees who make safety their priority every day.”

MD Anderson recognizes general contractors who maintain excellent safety records with gold or silver STEP awards. The honors are given out based on criteria requiring safety inspections; review of injury and claims records, both workers’ compensation and general liability; and overall safety management by the general contractor in all aspects of a Rolling Owner Controlled Insurance Program (ROCIP) project.

McCarthy’s Alkek Hospital expansion project has the lowest Total Case Incident Rate (TCIR) of all six ROCIP projects currently in progress at MD Anderson.

The 510,000-square-foot vertical expansion is comprised of a 12-story addition above and a 24-story elevator tower next to the existing and continuously operating 12-level Alkek inpatient tower.  Constructed in three phases, the expansion is scheduled for completion in fall 2010.

McCarthy is one of the most experienced healthcare builders in Texas.  In addition to the MD Anderson Alkek Hospital expansion, McCarthy’s roster of healthcare projects includes work for United Regional Healthcare Systems in Wichita Falls, the Carillon Point Plaza in Lubbock, as well as numerous renovation and expansion projects at the Knapp Medical Center in Weslaco, including: a $25 million hospital tower expansion; a $5.8 million addition of a 28,000-square-foot emergency department; a $5 million conference center; and a $2.2 million 14,000-square-foot outpatient services renovation. 

Extending beyond healthcare projects, McCarthy places safety as a top priority on every project the firm completes. McCarthy’s Texas Division just announced that 2009 was the safest year on record for the company and the Texas Division has completed 400 days on the job site without a recordable injury.

McCarthy’s Texas Division adds the Gold STEP Award to a growing list of other business and industry-based awards the firm has received, including being honored with a 2010 Build America Award from the Associated General Contractors of America for its work on the AT&T Performing Arts Center (AT&T PAC) Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre, the 2009 Contractor of the Year award from the Dallas chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in addition to receiving the coveted number three spot on the 2009 Top 100 Workplaces list by The Dallas Morning News.

About McCarthy
Celebrating nearly 30 years of building in Texas, McCarthy is one of the nation’s oldest privately held construction firms.  An employee-owned company, McCarthy offers general contracting, construction management and design/build services for the following project types: parking structures, healthcare, educational, office buildings, bridges and highways, laboratory, biotechnology, entertainment, retail, microelectronic, and industrial facilities, tenant interiors, mixed-use and multifamily residential.  In addition to Dallas, McCarthy has offices in Sacramento, San Francisco, San Diego and Newport Beach, Calif.; Phoenix; Las Vegas; St. Louis and Atlanta.

Over the last six months, construction workers used a 196-foot tall Liebherr tower crane with a reach of 276 feet to install 5,805 pieces of structural steel creating the frame for the new tower. The project team celebrated the placement of the last structural steel beam with a barbecue lunch for the project’s construction workers. During the luncheon, project team members signed the I-beam which was adorned with an American flag and an evergreen tree before construction workers from Schuff Steel lifted it 160 feet and attached it to the top of the structure. The tradition of attaching a tree and flag to the final structural beam has been practiced by construction workers for over 1000 years. The tree represents growth, life and good luck for the construction workers and the building’s future occupants. The flag is displayed as a patriotic symbol that signifies the united effort by the project team to achieve a common goal.

Serving as the general contractor for the project, McCarthy’s contract entails construction of a new 425,524-square-foot patient tower with one basement level and seven upper levels as well as a penthouse chiller room and helistop. McCarthy will also conduct a 50,000-square-foot renovation of the existing facility and supporting central plant components in the basement of the existing CHOC North Tower. Prior to construction, an office building and two-level parking structure were removed to make way for the new tower.

“The project team is performing advanced building techniques to aid in the detailing and construction of the new tower,” said Max Burcham, McCarthy project director. “Our team is using computer graphics/BIM 3-D modeling to refine coordination and thereby reduce conflicts between systems during installation. We are also creating various mockups to mitigate any waterproofing issues as well as to work through the details of how multiple components interface.”

“The new patient care tower will enable CHOC to continue to expand and provide innovative tertiary and quaternary pediatric care. To promote a serene, healing environment, the tower will feature leading design and safety principles, private rooms and enhanced amenities. The state-of-the-art facility will also include advanced pediatric surgical suites and related services, as well as emergency, laboratory, pathology, imaging and radiology services,” explained CHOC’s Vice President, Facilities, Design and Construction, Waldo Romero.

The visually stimulating design is highlighted by a multi-colored glass skin, accented with colorful metal panels and a vertical beacon.  The exterior façade will transform at night, providing a playful change in appearance. All floors have shell space allocated for future department expansion. FKP Architects of Houston, Texas is the design architect and WBSA (Wood, Burghard & Swain Architects) of Irvine is the construction administration architect.

In response to the community and regional environment, the building will incorporate environmental health principles and sustainable building guidelines as recognized by the Green Guide for Healthcare, U.S. Green Building Council and state of California energy mandates. During construction, McCarthy will minimize unrecyclable construction waste, maintain proper indoor air quality, filter storm water/runoff and ensure that the subcontractors install the specified “green” materials. Sun/shadow studies and site lighting studies were utilized to provide an eco-efficient design. Some of the building’s sustainable design features include: recyclable materials; low-emitting insulating exterior glass panels; light colored skin materials; green roofing; insulation isolation of skin materials; ozone protection/refrigerant selection; abundant use and optimization of natural light; increasing green space with healing gardens; low-emitting interior materials such as floor, wall and ceiling finishes; energy management technology; water efficient landscaping; and irrigation management.

Jacobs of Cypress, Calif. is the project’s Construction Manager; Thomsen Engineering of Industry, Calif. is the Civil Engineer; TMAD Taylor & Gaines of Pasadena, Calif. is the Structural and MEP Engineer.

About CHOC Children’s
CHOC Children’s is exclusively committed to the health and well-being of children through clinical expertise, advocacy, outreach and research that brings advanced treatment to pediatric patients. Affiliated with the University of California, Irvine, CHOC’s regional healthcare network includes two state-of-the-art hospitals in Orange and Mission Viejo, several primary and specialty care clinics, a pediatric residency program, and four centers of excellence—The CHOC Children’s Heart, Cancer, Neuroscience, and Orthopaedic Institutes.

CHOC is one of only eight children’s hospitals in the nation named a “2009 Leapfrog Top Hospital,” and is the only children’s hospital in California to earn the Silver Level CAPE Award from the California Council of Excellence. CHOC was awarded Magnet designation, the highest honor bestowed to hospitals for nursing excellence, and is the first children’s hospital in the United States to earn the Beacon Award for Critical Care Excellence.

About McCarthy
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest construction firms 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 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.

The Mercy Medical Center includes the following departments: Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Surgery Center, Operation Recovery, Labor and Delivery, Neonatal ICU, Newborn Nursery, Emergency Room and Ambulatory Care, as well as a pharmacy, cafeteria and helipad.  The facility also offers state-of-the-art data and telecommunications systems; environmentally sensitive power plant equipment; advanced mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems; an emergency services response system featuring high-tech radio communications technology that covers multiple counties; a security system controlled by RS2 technologies; and external and internal design elements to promote healing. 

In addition to CHW, the primary team members, consisting of McCarthy, RBB Architects, Inc. and the owner’s construction manager Harris & Associates, worked with the owner to implement a “design-assist” delivery process to help create a soothing hospital environment engineered for today’s innovative technology standards.  This multi-faceted approach allowed the team to meet well before construction began to collaborate on design, owner/user group and Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD) issues to provide a complete coordinated design that met the OSHPD criteria, as well as owner expectation.  The project was completed within schedule and under budget, and included minimal OSHPD deferred approvals and change orders, as well as reduced MEP (mechanical, electrical, plumbing) coordination duration.

“The collaborative approach of all key project participants was built on trust, respect and open communication, which made this project an unprecedented success,” said Chris Dugas, area manager for design and construction, CHW.  “Project issues were aired openly and resolved with continual focus on the ultimate common goals.”

“We were thrilled to be an integral part in fulfilling CHW’s and Mercy Medical Center’s vision to expand its healthcare in the Merced area through this new state-of-the-art facility,” said McCarthy’s Project Director Bryan Anderson.  “The design-assist approach helped us mitigate any challenges up front while successfully meeting the project’s goals of integrating high-technological capabilities and environmentally friendly materials and processes – ultimately resulting in a project that was delivered within schedule and with substantial cost savings to CHW.”

In addition to the advanced technological capabilities, environmentally conscious construction process and materials were also a focus of Mercy Medical Center’s development plan.  The project team participated in the Savings by Design program and the Merced Irrigation District recently presented the Center with a $120,000 check for participation.  Environmental elements include: high efficiency chillers and boilers; premium efficiency motors for the cooling tower, hot water pumps, medical air and vacuum systems; and energy efficient fluorescent lighting with room occupancy sensors.  McCarthy recycled 100 percent of concrete waste, as well as more than 85 percent of all other construction materials.

About Catholic Healthcare West
Catholic Healthcare West (CHW), headquartered in San Francisco, CA, is a system of 41 hospitals and medical centers in California, Arizona, and Nevada. Founded in 1986, it is one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit health care systems and the largest private hospital system in California. CHW is committed to delivering compassionate, high-quality, affordable health care services with special attention to the poor and underserved. The CHW network of nearly 10,000 physicians and approximately 54,000 employees provides health care services to more than five million people annually. In 2009, CHW provided nearly $1.2 billion in charity care, community benefit, and unreimbursed patient care.  For more information, visit www.chwhealth.org.

About McCarthy
Founded in 1864, McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest commercial construction companies.  The company provides general contracting, construction management, program management and design/build services for resort and entertainment, education, healthcare, parking, entertainment, retail, laboratory, biotechnical, microelectronic, and industrial facilities; green buildings; office buildings; tenant interiors; mixed-use; and bridges and highways.  McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned.  More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.

McCarthy recently topped off the structural steel on a new replacement hospital for Kaiser Permanente in Fontana. Located on the southern end of the existing Kaiser Permanente Fontana Medical Center site, the hospital facility will replace the existing hospital tower at the campus which will later be converted for outpatient use. The approximately $700 million project, which will be one of the largest healthcare facilities in the Inland Empire, is currently ahead of schedule.

Members of the engineering and construction team at the beam signing ceremony for the approximately $700 million Kaiser Permanente Fontana replacement hospital project being built by McCarthy Building Companies.

Kaiser Permanente celebrated this major milestone at final beam signing ceremony and breakfast for staff, local elected officials and project team representatives on February 18, 2010. Later, McCarthy Building companies held a barbecue lunch for the construction workers and the final beam was lifted and secured in place by Herrick Corp. of Stockton, Calif. on March 10.

Two massive crawler cranes, each with a reach of about 360 feet, were used to simultaneously erect 4,700 tons of structural steel for the hospital and support building. Structural steel erection on both structures was completed in 11 weeks.

Serving as the general contractor for the project, McCarthy’s contract entails construction of the 314-bed, 482,078-square-foot hospital, a 50,000-square foot hospital support building and a 23,000-square-foot central utility plant. Prior to erecting the hospital, McCarthy conducted site preparation and built a new member and doctor parking lot. After completion of this project, McCarthy will demolish sections of the existing hospital and remodel remaining components of the existing building.

Designed by HMC Architects (www.hmcarchitects.com ), the new seven-level hospital boasts a sustainable and patient-centered design. Likewise, environmentally friendly building methods are being used throughout construction such as recycling building materials, minimizing unrecyclable construction waste and maintaining proper indoor air quality.  Being built to meet seismic standards adopted in California after the 1994 Northridge earthquake, the hospital will feature a plaster and curtain wall exterior with a structural braced-frame core. The project is scheduled to complete in December 2012 with the new facility slated to open in 2013.

Once completed, the new hospital will house a variety of specialty services including a cardiac surgery department, a 51-bed emergency department, pediatric and neonatal ICU, inpatient dialysis unit, pediatrics, ICU, labor and delivery, cardiac cath lab and surgery. The hospital support building will be attached to the hospital and includes medical offices, radiology, a pharmacy and a specialty clinic.

About Kaiser Permanente
Kaiser Permanente is America’s leading integrated health plan. Kaiser Permanente’s Southern California Region is a nonprofit, group practice prepayment program headquartered in Pasadena, California. Kaiser Permanente serves the health care needs of 3.3 million Southern California members from Bakersfield to San Diego. It encompasses the nonprofit Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and their subsidiaries, and the for-profit Southern California Permanente Medical Group. Kaiser Permanente’s Southern California Region includes more than 47,000 technical, administrative and clerical employees and caregivers, and more than 5,200 physicians representing all specialties. More information about Kaiser Permanente can be found at www.kaiserpermanente.com.

About McCarthy Building Companies
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest construction firms 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 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.

McCarthy Building Companies, Inc., recognized as one of the nation’s largest builders of healthcare facilities, recently completed construction of the $153 million Patient Care Tower at Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo. Built next to the existing Mission Hospital tower at the southeast corner of Crown Valley Parkway and Medical Center Road, the new four-level patient tower was completed ahead of schedule and opened on November 15, 2009.

The new tower features a patient-centered design along with next-generation advancements in healthcare technology and seismic building safety. The latest in advanced diagnostic and patient care services are housed within the 345-bed Mission Viejo campus including: 44 beds, advanced diagnostic imaging, nuclear medicine, the Zimmer Neuroscience Wing, the Swenson Family Linear Accelerator Suite and the Schumacher Healing Garden.  The expansion also includes a new chapel available to patients and visitors of all faiths 24 hours, seven days a week. The chapel was made possible by a $1 million commitment from the Auxiliary of Mission Hospital.

“After nine years of planning and two years of construction, Mission Hospital is now the diagnostically most advanced hospital in the country,” said Peter F. Bastone, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mission Hospital. “The tower was built to provide the future of healthcare to south Orange County, recognizing the diverse, growing needs of our community.”

Designed by RBB Architects Inc. of Los Angeles, the new Patient Care Tower’s award-winning architecture was created to promote healing for patients, a comfortable atmosphere for families and an enhanced state-of-the-art working environment for hospital staff.  Some of the tower’s patient and family friendly highlights will include: private rooms, an expanded family area, dedicated sleep chairs for guests and wireless connectivity throughout the hospital.

McCarthy served as general contractor for the new tower as well as an underground tunnel and a 175-foot-long pedestrian bridge that connects the new facility with the main hospital building on the third floor. Prior to erecting the tower, McCarthy conducted 11 months of significant site work including the installation of new utilities, re-configuring the entrance to the hospital and parking lot and demolishing an existing two-story conference center.

The new Patient Care Tower utilizes 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.

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 alongside the chapel includes sitting areas and lush landscape to evoke serene space for relaxation, prayer and meditation. The chapel and healing garden are strategically located between the existing tower and the new tower to invite easy access for the entire community and to emphasize the spiritual and holistic healing mission of the hospital.

The Tower’s exterior is composed of metal panel cladding and an exposed steel braced-frame conveying a sense of the highly technological, state-of-the-art activities contained within. A cascading fountain in the entry drive immediately creates a relaxing setting for patients and visitors driving up to and entering the hospital. Extensive glazing provides an abundance of natural light, promoting an uplifting and healing environment for patients and an enhanced working atmosphere for the staff.

“Constructing a high-tech hospital with complex mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) systems requires advanced design and construction skills,” said McCarthy Project Manager Todd Foos. “A critical component used to deliver this complex healthcare facility on-time and within budget, was Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology in which the team created virtual 3-D mock-ups of the complex, above-ceiling utilities, in-wall coordination for high congestion areas and on the tower’s unique building exterior in which structural members were located outside the envelope of the exterior skin. The use of 3D modeling proved highly successful in helping us visualize and resolve system’s clashes before construction began. As a result, the design and construction team coordinated approximately 125,000 square feet of MEP work nearly twice as fast as using traditional 2D coordination and avoided costly change orders on construction of the building exterior that could have valued over $2.5 million if BIM had not been utilized.”

The use of BIM on the Mission Hospital Patient Care Tower was so successful that St. Joseph Health System was awarded the Gold Constructech Vision Award for the project’s use of a high level of BIM detail modeling for the exterior skin of the building. The award is based on the use of technology to promote innovation within the construction industry.  Vico Software of Boulder, Colorado worked with the facilities and design and construction team to implement BIM modeling for the building’s exterior.

“The St. Joseph Health System has been pioneering implementation of Building Information Management (BIM) on major projects over the last four years,” said Jim Bostic, AVP of Construction for SJHS.  “The Mission Hospital Acute Care Tower was the first project to use the highest level of definition for  modeling the exterior skin of the building. This required the modeling team to define every building element, which included structural members, metal stud framing, fireproofing, drywall and metal panels. As the reception of the 2009 Gold Constructech Vision Award attests, the team’s commitment to the modeling effort was successful in every regard, surpassing our expectations in both time and cost savings.”

About Mission Hospital
Mission Hospital provides south Orange County communities with access to advanced care and advanced caring through two convenient locations, Mission Viejo and Laguna Beach. Mission Hospital has been serving the greater needs of the community for nearly 40 years, improving the quality of life in the communities we serve.  Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo is an acute care, full-service facility providing the most advanced healthcare services and diagnostic care to south Orange County. One of only three designated trauma centers in the county, the hospital offers 24-hour emergency care and specialized services through its Mission Imaging Center, Mission Heart Center, Mission Stroke Center, Mission Maternity Center and Mission Women’s Wellness Center. The hospital also offers the highest level of care in orthopedics, rehabilitation, cancer, spine and vascular services. Mission Hospital Laguna Beach’s healthcare services include 24-hour emergency, intensive and medical-surgical care as well as behavioral health and chemical dependency and chronic pain medicine abuse treatment. CHOC Children’s at Mission Hospital, a separately licensed pediatric hospital on the Mission Viejo campus, serves as the only designated pediatric healthcare center in south Orange County.  A member of the St. Joseph Health System, the 552-bed hospital is one of 14 not-for-profit hospitals sponsored by the St. Joseph Health Ministry.  For more information, visit www.mission4health.com.

About McCarthy
Founded in 1864, McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest commercial construction companies 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. The company provides general contracting, construction management, program management and design/build services for healthcare, education, parking, entertainment, retail, laboratory, biotechnical, microelectronic, and industrial facilities; green buildings; office buildings; tenant interiors; mixed-use; and bridges and highways.  McCarthy is 100 percent employee-owned.  More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.

Located in the heart of the city at 3020 Children’s Way, the new $260 million Rady Children’s Hospital Patient Care Pavilion is on track to become one of California’s first LEED certified OSHPD (Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development) healthcare facilities under strict guidelines set forth by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Prominently visible from San Diego’s I-805, the Rady Children’s Hospital Patient Care Pavilion is situated on a 148,650-square-foot site at the southeast end of the hospital campus, adjacent to the existing Rady Children’s Hospital Rose Pavilion. A bridge will connect the existing facility to the new four-story building.

The Patient Care Pavilion will house a much-needed surgical center, 84 medical-surgical beds, a neo-natal intensive care center, and cancer center. The facility will have 16 operating rooms with associated support departments, a 28-bed hematology and oncology unit, 10-bed bone marrow transplant intensive care unit, 32-bed neo-natal intensive care unit, and 84 acuity adaptable medical surgery beds. Construction began in December 2007 and is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2010.

“Rady Children’s Hospital is committed to adopting green practices throughout its operations,” said Tim Jacoby, vice president of facilities for Rady Children’s Hospital – San Diego. “The McCarthy team is successfully moving us toward our goal of becoming the largest children’s hospital in the state with a world-class, LEED certified facility.”

Not only will the Rady Children’s Hospital Patient Care Pavilion be one of the first LEED certified OSHPD facilities in California, it also will be one of the first LEED certified healthcare facilities within San Diego County. So far, only a few healthcare organizations in the region have applied to meet LEED requirements.

Designed by San Francisco-based architectural firm Ashen + Allen, the new Children’s Hospital Patient Care Pavilion features a glass-fiber reinforced, precast concrete exterior; dimensional travertine stone; storefront and curtain wall glass systems with colored accents; and metal panels, railings and canopies.

“McCarthy has a huge responsibility placed on them to carry through with construction of the facility’s sustainable design in a thoughtful, practical manner,” said Ashen + Allen’s Eric Lum, Ph.D, AIA, LEED AP, LEED project administrator. “They’ve been extremely diligent with the construction coordination.”

Building one of the first LEED designed OSHPD healthcare facilities in California is a job McCarthy has taken as seriously as the cause:  fulfilling the increased demand for children’s critical care in the San Diego area. To knowledgeably address the LEED aspects of the project, McCarthy employed a dedicated LEED AP professional and, since the project began in early 2008, nine of the team’s members have become LEED APs.

The McCarthy team is targeting 20 percent below Title 24 requirements for energy efficiency. Other sustainable features include a reflective concrete “cool roof” that will minimize heat gain and control rainwater runoff; recycled and locally obtained steel, concrete and other building materials; low VOC-emitting paints, glues, carpet, and wood; water-efficient landscaping; natural light; high-efficiency air conditioning and mechanical systems; and a dedicated bicycle storage area.  Nearly 80 percent of construction waste materials at the job site is being recycled.

In addition to providing outstanding indoor air quality, the design will maximize natural light and utilize high-efficiency air conditioning and mechanical equipment to provide sustainable, lower-overall life cycle operating costs that positively impact the ongoing operation of the hospital. The building also will feature a green roof system that will help control the rainwater run-off from the roof.

As a pediatric institution, the new Rady Children’s Hospital Patient Care Pavilion will provide an environment focused on the needs and imaginations of children. Central to the theme of the hospital are “Carley’s Magical Gardens”, a series of mythical healing gardens designed through the collaboration of artists T.J. Dixon, Kim Emerson, Albert De Matteis, and James Nelson.

Located on the second floor off the hematology and oncology unit, the primary healing garden will hold hidden clues that lead children to 12 golden eggs belonging to “Marisa, the Magical Bird”.  When their search is complete, they can put their wishes into Marisa’s “golden locket”, where they later will be collected by staff to better understand the children’s thoughts and needs. “Carley’s Birthday Party”, featuring a life-size bronze figure of a young girl sitting at an eight-foot-long table holding her puppy, will be the centerpiece of the healing garden, and provide a place for organized activities as well as a gathering point for large families. Other whimsical objects include a mosaic tile and concrete tree house,  bronze statue of “Digger the Dog”, playhouse with mechanical toys, privacy bench, performance stage, and interactive garden screens and gates.

A second landscaped healing garden for parents and siblings will be located on the first floor, off the main entrance. Visitors can meander down a pathway and over a wooden bridge, where they will be taken to a magical place with “Turtles Taking Tea at the Tidelands Fountain”, the “Court of the Frog King”, and a 17-foot mahagony and brass row boat complete with a ships wheel and throttle. The mosaic tile “River of Life” within the healing garden ties into the “Fountain of Life” wall in the lobby. Outside the main entrance will be two groupings of life-size painted bronze seals – one a mother with two cubs, the other four seals gleefully frolicking.

A third landscaped garden, located on the third floor, will feature a bronze dog with its puppies, interactive garden screens, and various sound elements. A fourth outdoor landscaped area on the first floor, named the Leichtag Family Healing Garden in honor of its donor, is intended for use by staff.

“Our construction team is inspired by the passion and commitment of the Rady Children’s Hospital staff to bring this project to life,” said McCarthy Executive Vice President Ron Hall.  “We understand this is not just another construction project, but rather a life-saving mission on behalf of parents and their children.”

KPFF of San Francisco is the structural engineer; RBF, San Diego, civil engineer; Randall Lamb, San Diego, electrical engineer; Shadpour Consulting Engineers, San Diego, mechanical engineer; and Royston Hanamoto Alley & Abey of Mill Valley is serving as landscape architect.

McCarthy also performed design/build services for the adjacent 332,279-square-foot, 1,000-car parking structure including a podium deck to accommodate the new Ronald McDonald House.

About McCarthy
Founded in 1864, McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is one of the nation’s oldest and largest commercial construction companies 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. The company provides general contracting, construction management, program management and design/build services for healthcare, education, parking, entertainment, retail, laboratory, biotechnical, microelectronic, and industrial facilities; green buildings; office buildings; tenant interiors; mixed-use; and bridges and highways.  McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned.  More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com.

“This ceremony marks our progress toward the successful completion of a hospital expansion for a facility that has a rich tradition of continually working to find a cure for cancer,” said McCarthy’s Texas Division President, Mike McWay.  “We are excited to surpass this construction milestone as we top out the Alkek Hospital Expansion, which will have a lasting impact on the area.”

“As the demand for inpatient beds continues to rise, we are seeing occupancies in excess of 100%.  Achieving this milestone resonates with everyone at M. D. Anderson as we seek to meet the needs of our growing patient population,” said M. D. Anderson Cancer Center ‘s Project Director, Janet Sisolak.

The Topping-Out ceremony marked the completion of the highest point of construction on the job site.  Instead of the traditional Topping-Out ceremony of placing an evergreen at the highest point of the structure, M. D. Anderson faculty, staff and patients had the opportunity to sign their names and write messages on three steel beams to be used in the construction.

The 500,000-square-foot vertical expansion will be completed in multiple phases.  The first phase prepared the existing Alkek Hospital for the vertical expansion and included selective demolition, temporary waterproofing activities and the installation of a tower crane and a personnel/material hoist.  The second phase consists of the core and shell construction.  The third phase will include the construction of the first three inpatient floors and is expected to be complete in 2010.  Five additional patient floors will be built as shell space in addition to the construction of a mechanical floor and the renovation of several areas within the existing building, including level 12, which contains special air filtering systems dedicated to patients with compromised immune systems.

McCarthy is one of the most experienced builders of healthcare facilities in Texas.  In addition to the M. D. Anderson Alkek Hospital expansion, McCarthy’s roster of healthcare projects includes work for United Regional Healthcare Systems in Wichita Falls,  the Carillon Point Plaza in Lubbock, as well as numerous renovation and expansion projects at the Knapp Medical Center in Weslaco, including a $25 million hospital tower expansion, a $5.8 million addition of a 28,000-square-foot emergency department, a $5 million conference center and a $2.2 million renovation of 14,000 square feet of outpatient services.

The M. D. Anderson Alkek Hospital expansion began in January 2008 and is scheduled for completion in 2010.  The architect for this design-build project is HKS, Inc. of Dallas.

About The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center
Celebrating more than six decades of Making Cancer History^®, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center is located in Houston on the sprawling campus of the Texas Medical Center. It is one of the world’s most respected centers devoted exclusively to cancer patient care, research, education and prevention.   M. D. Anderson Cancer Center was created by the Texas Legislature in 1941 as a component of The University of Texas System. The institution is one of the nation’s original three Comprehensive Cancer Centers designated by the National Cancer Act of 1971, and is one of 39 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers today.  In 2009, U.S. News and World Report’s “America’s Best Hospitals” survey ranked M. D. Anderson as the top hospital in the nation for cancer care. M. D. Anderson has achieved the top ranking six times in the past ten years and has ranked as one of the top two hospitals for cancer care for 18 years, since the magazine began its annual survey in 1990.

About McCarthy
Celebrating nearly 30 years of building in Texas, McCarthy is one of the nation’s oldest privately held construction firms.  An employee-owned company, McCarthy offers general contracting, construction management and design/build services for the following project types: parking structures, healthcare, educational, office buildings, bridges and highways, laboratory, biotechnology, entertainment, retail, microelectronic, and industrial facilities, tenant interiors, mixed-use and multifamily residential.  In addition to Dallas, McCarthy has offices in Sacramento, San Francisco, San Diego and Newport Beach, Calif.; Phoenix; Las Vegas; St. Louis and Atlanta.