—
Representatives from McCarthy-Clark-Hunt (MCH), a construction joint venture, joined with Los Angeles County officials to sign a contract agreement, officially marking the start of the new L.A.County+USC Medical Center Replacement Facility. The project will break ground in the spring of 2003.
Earlier this month, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors selected MCH, which is comprised of McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. (www.mccarthy.com) of Newport Beach, Clark Construction Group, LLC (www.clarkconstruction.com) of Costa Mesa, and the Hunt Construction Group (www.huberhuntnichols.com) of Phoenix, to serve as general contractor for the 600-bed, 1.5 million square foot facility. W. Carter Chappell of McCarthy, Richard Heim of Clark and Robert G. Hunt of Hunt participated in the signing with Thomas Remillard, Assistant Director of the L.A. County Department of Public Works.
The joint venture partners are among the nation’s largest and most experienced construction companies with an outstanding track record in health care construction that includes such clients as the National Institutes of Health, the Johns Hopkins Medical Center and Hoag Memorial Hospital.
“All of us with MCH look forward to working with the Department of Public Works and the entire project team to deliver an on-time, on-budget, state-of-the-art facility that will serve the residents of L.A. County for decades to come,” said Heim. “In addition, MCH will collaborate with the County on community outreach programs focused on employment, economic opportunity and community service initiatives.”
Sited on land next to the existing facility, the new LAC+USC Replacement Medical Facility will include four major components: a seven-story outpatient building; an eight story inpatient tower; a five-story diagnostic and treatment building; and a central energy plant. Designed by a joint venture of HOK of Los Angeles and LBL Associated Architects of Santa Monica, the new replacement hospital will play a central role in meeting the growing demand for public health care services, replacing a facility that had grown outdated in many areas and was badly damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake.
First opened in 1878 as a two-story brick building, the existing hospital facility was one of the first in the Los Angeles County health system and one of its most prominent symbols. It has grown to become the nation’s largest teaching hospital and accommodated more than 785,000 emergency and outpatient visits last year.
Completion of the new LAC+USC Replacement Medical Center is scheduled for 2007.
###
