$385M Medical Center Replaces Kaiser Hospital

This is Kaiser Permanente's first hospital project using the design-build delivery method, which allowed McCarthy and Kaiser Permanente to develop and coordinate the systems engineering early and simultaneously with the overall design. According to Steven Mynsberge, EVP and healthcare business unit leader for McCarthy, the design-build method "is increasingly being embraced to reduce cost and eliminate design-related schedule impacts." The new Kaiser hospital was completed nearly five months early and is projected to be substantially under the original cost estimate, and the design-build approach saved almost $20 million on systems and structures through value engineering, according to McCarthy.

Designed by HMC Architects, the 352-bed hospital accommodates a full complement of services including critical care and acute care nursing; inpatient and outpatient surgery; a labor, delivery, recovery and postpartum unit; pediatric services; and a neonatal ICU.  Now that it's complete, more than 300 doctors and 3,400 staff members working across 82 departments will staff the new facility.

The replacement hospital and its central plant comprise the second project that McCarthy has completed at the Downey campus. The builder previously finished a medical office building in 2005, and is scheduled to return to construct a second medical office building and parking structure in 2010.