VA Taps Clark Construction To Build Las Vegas Medical Center

LAS VEGAS – The United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has awarded Clark Construction Group and joint venture partner Hunt Construction Group the contract for Phase IV of the VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System's new 150-acre medical campus. This $364.9 million hospital project is the largest construction contract ever awarded by the VA and further develops Clark's relationship with this government agency. In early 2008, Clark completed Phase I of the project, which included work on the center's site infrastructure and a central plant, and currently is working on Phase III, a design-build, 120-bed nursing home care unit.

Phase IV' scope of work includes building a seven-story, 790,000-square-foot medical center that will house a 90-bed inpatient care unit and a 20-bed mental health facility. The center will provide complete medical services, including ambulatory care, radiology, laboratories, a pharmacy, diagnostic and treatment clinics, and educational facilities. Integrated with the architecture of the adjacent nursing home, the medical center's design features a multi-tiered structure enclosed in glass curtain wall, ribbon and punched windows, masonry, and phenolic wall panels.

Clark will also manage the build-out of a 47,000-square-foot central plant and energy center. In the event of an emergency, these utilities will allow the hospital to remain fully operational with four days worth of power, water reserves, and wastewater storage capacity.

Construction of Phase IV is expected to begin this month and substantial completion is scheduled for August 2011. A joint venture of RTKL of Washington, D.C. and JMA Architecture Studio of Las Vegas are the project architects. Other project partners include G.C. Wallace, Las Vegas, civil engineer; Syska Hennessy Group, Los Angeles, MEP engineer, and Degenkolb Engineering, San Francisco, structural engineer.