[December 05, 2016]

VA New Orleans Replacement Medical Center Constructed by Clark/McCarthy, to Begin Treating Patients December 5

The Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System's (SLVHCS) new medical center, a 1.7 million-square-foot facility that replaces critical medical infrastructure irreparably damaged in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, will begin the intensive activation of all of its outpatient services Monday, December 5, 2016. Constructed by Clark/McCarthy Healthcare Partners (CMHP), a joint venture of Clark Construction Group, LLC, and McCarthy Building Companies, Inc., with local partners Landis Construction and Woodward Design+Build, the new VA Veterans medical center will deliver patient-centered care to serve Veterans' changing medical, surgical and quality-of-life needs.

Located on a 34-acre campus adjacent to the new University Medical Center New Orleans, Louisiana State University Health Science Center and Tulane Medical Center, the new VA Veterans medical center is part of an expanding medical district on the edge of the central business district in New Orleans.

The unified nine-building campus encompasses the restored, historic Pan-American Life building which now serves as the administrative building for VA, and construction of a new diagnostic & treatment building, inpatient building, outpatient building, transitional living facility, central energy plant, patient parking garage and staff parking garage. In 2017, the CMHP team will complete construction of the ninth building, a new research facility incorporating the historic Dixie Brewery building.

A central concourse organizes the campus, linking atriums that open into large program blocks subdivided into smaller buildings and separated by green courtyards that resemble the gardens of the French Quarter. In total, the new campus houses 200 inpatient beds, 370 outpatient exam rooms, 21 procedural suites, eight operating rooms, ambulatory clinics, emergency and imaging departments, mental health services, patient education facilities and outpatient rehabilitation services. The institution's educational mission is advanced through state-of-the-art technology, including smart classrooms and conference rooms, integrated cameras in the operating rooms, robotic surgery and wireless technology.

Designed and constructed for maximum resiliency, the facility can remain fully operational during a major storm or natural disaster, with enough provisions and accommodations for up to 1,000 staff and patients for five days. Critical healthcare functions, including the emergency room, are located at least 21 feet above the base flood elevation, and travel from building to building can take place entirely indoors. The campus also features an emergency transport heliport and boat dock and is designed with a full backup power system and the capacity to handle double inpatient occupancy in times of disaster.

"Our team applied lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina to create a resilient hospital infrastructure with an efficient, patient-centered design that will serve up to 70,000 Veterans from throughout the region," says Steve Maslen, project executive of CMHP.

"As a civil engineer, I can see that this medical center has been designed and constructed to serve as a model for health care of the future and set the standards for patient-centered care," said SLVHCS Medical Center Director Fernando O. Rivera, FACHE. "In a ribbon cutting November 18, we celebrated serving Veterans and expanding our services by using a state-of-the-art Veterans medical center. This even is a major step in giving Veterans back the medical center they have earned and deserve as we work toward seeing outpatients daily at the new facility beginning December 5."

Throughout construction, CMHP initiated and participated in a series of small business education and community outreach initiatives. Team members conducted two, six-part training sessions to help educate small business subcontractors on federal contracting and construction best practices. CMHP's extensive volunteer efforts included renovating the local VFW Hall; restoring a home destroyed by Katrina through the Rebuilding Together program; hosting a backpack drive to donate school supplies to a charter high school in an area devastated by Katrina; and volunteering for the Hope House social service agency. Team members also educated high school students about the architecture, construction and engineering professions as volunteers for the New Orleans Chapter of the ACE Mentor Program.

The project's lead architect is Studio NOVA, a joint venture between NBBJ, Eskew+Dumez+Ripple and Rozas Ward Architects.

About Clark Construction Group

Clark Construction Group is one of the nation's most experienced and respected providers of construction services. With annual revenue in excess of $4 billion, Clark is consistently ranked among the nation's largest general contractors. Clark completed nearly $1 billion of healthcare construction annually and has active hospital projects with Inova (News - Alert) Health System, Dignity Health, Stanford University Medical Center, and Ventura and Alameda County. For more information visit http://www.clarkconstruction.com or follow the company on social media: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

About McCarthy Building Companies

McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. is the oldest privately held national construction company in the country - with more than 150 years spent collaborating with partners to solve complex building challenges on behalf of its clients. With an unrelenting focus on safety and a comprehensive quality program that span all phases of every project, McCarthy utilizes industry-leading design phase and construction techniques combined with value-add technology to maximize outcomes. McCarthy is 100 percent employee owned. More information about the company is available online at www.mccarthy.com or by following the company on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Google+.

Editor's Note: Download high resolution images HERE

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20161205006307/en/

[ Back To Mobile World Congress's Homepage ]