Family Album

Repeat Performance at Knapp
By: Damon Fontenot

McCarthy is back at Knapp Medical Center (KMC) in Weslaco, Texas, for a repeat performance. In November 2001 the administration at Mid Valley Health System selected McCarthy to complete a new $6.2 million emergency room expansion following our successful completion of a six-story patient tower addition in 1997.

Upon award of the ER expansion project, Project Director Gary Akin had a very pleasant surprise when he walked into his first meeting in the owner's office. Every-where in the office were McCarthy labeled items and hardhats. Although quite some time had passed since the tower addition, KMC was convinced that McCarthy was the choice to be the contractor for their next major project.

KMC is located in the “heart of the Rio Grande Valley” in deep South Texas, an area centered between McAllen, Brownsville, and Harlingen. The Rio Grande Valley metroplex is touted as one of the quickest growing communities in the country. The many border crossings to Mexico and the ever-increasing transportation requirements in the area have allowed the Valley to continue to prosper despite the struggling economy. Furthermore, South Texas is a desirable location for the annual “Winter Texans” who account for much of the population during the winter months — and increases the need for healthcare facilities.

The most challenging aspects of the 25,000-sf emergency room addition involved tying the new addition into the inner workings of the hospital. Close coordination was required between the construction work and the hospital employees. We constructed a temporary main entrance on the south side of the hospital to allow us to remove the existing main entrance lobby. The new emergency room was then constructed around two sides of the 1997 tower addition and in place of the abandoned main entrance.

On May 22, Knapp held an open house and ribbon cutting ceremony to display the recently completed “state of the art” Emergency Room. Knapp intends to open the new ER for business in June, and abandon their older and much smaller existing Emergency Room. We are now turning our attention to the second phase of the project, the 10,000-sf remodel of the main lobby space and the construction of a new elaborate main entrance skylight canopy.

As the first phase of the ER Expansion project neared completion, McCarthy was awarded a new $4.8 million Education and Conference Pavilion. In March, McCarthy began a new freestanding 40,000-sf building that will be a standout feature on the hospital campus. Not only will the Pavilion serve as the main conference area for the hospital, but also for the community. The project will consist of a large auditorium, six large classrooms and many support offices. Once completed, it will be the largest and most technologically advanced meeting facility in the city of Weslaco. There are plans in the works for a future tower and McCarthy may have an opportunity for another repeat performance.

The on-site team consists of Rich Bernacki and Damon Fontenot, Patricia Villasenor, Paul Rauch and Sara Grant. The sustaining work and multiple projects at Knapp Medical Center will keep us all busy through at least March 2004.

Any discussion of the work taking place at KMC would not be complete without mentioning the relationship created by the McCarthy team during the previous McCarthy project in 1997. The lasting effects of that work made a deep impression on the hearts and minds of the hospital employees. Routinely the current project team receives comments of how fond everyone at the hospital is of McCarthy.