San Diego-based general contractor Pacific Building Group has completed construction of Alvarado Hospital Medical Center’s expanded emergency department. More than 100 guests including hospital staff, construction professionals, local officials and community members gathered to celebrate the recent unveiling of the 21,000-square-foot facility.
The new emergency department is an addition to the original hospital building built in 1972, and replaces a much smaller 12-bed space. The updated facility owned by Prime Healthcare Services, Inc. has 20 beds on the first floor, as well as a designated staff area and shell space for future expansion on the second floor. Additional improvements to the facility include an enclosed cafeteria courtyard, separate entrances to accommodate different types of emergencies, and enhanced connectivity to county EMS for inbound patients.
The comprehensive department serves as a certified heart attack STEMI center, certified primary stroke center and as an accredited geriatric emergency department. The new design features a color scheme with contrasting colors, and improved accessibility to meet the needs of elderly patients.
“We are honored to have worked with Prime Healthcare and Pratt Architecture in renovating Alvarado Hospital’s emergency department into a leading-edge facility that delivers specialized healthcare services to San Diegans,” says Jim Roherty, president of Pacific Building Group. “We take great pride in knowing that what we’ve built is helping Alvarado’s 900 nurses, physicians and staff serve our community.”
Other enhancements include an expanded covered driveway with new ambulance and patient entrances, an improved parking lot, new street lighting and sidewalks along Reservoir Drive, new landscaping, and a new emergency generator serving the emergency department, the soon-to-be completed intensive care unit and main-hospital power upgraded transformer.
The ribbon cutting was an extra special event for Alvarado Hospital’s CEO Robin Gomez.
“The gravity of opening the new emergency department is not lost on me,” says Robin Gomez, CEO of Alvarado Hospital. “We’ve all waited a very long time for this to happen, including my Father, Ed Ewing, who was the director of plant operations here from 1976 to 1992. He remembers being in meetings and helping to formulate plans for a new ED back then. I’m proud to say, as his daughter, that I could be a part of the team that finally saw those ideas come to fruition. I’m elated that he was able to be here with us at the ribbon cutting ceremony.”
The construction team included more than 50 local subcontractors assembled by Pacific Building Group.
“The uniqueness of the site and facility required seamless integration of subcontractors across diverse trades — from subgrade dewatering, uncommonly deep excavations, structural, electrical and framing — to specialized trades such as medical gases, nurse call and medical IT systems,” adds Gary Rhoads, senior project manager at Pacific Building Group. “The completed result is a highly functional, first-class emergency department for the residents of east San Diego county.”
About Alvarado Hospital Emergency Department:
Alvarado Hospital is a designated full-service emergency department (ED) for the San Diego County Emergency Medical System open 24/7. Staffed with board-certified emergency medicine physicians and experienced registered nurses, the Alvarado Hospital ED provides immediate access to the most advanced diagnostic services and lifesaving care. Alvarado Hospital’s ED provides advanced care 24 hours a day, seven days a week with several notable designations. Additionally, the Alvarado Hospital ED is supported by an on-call panel of physicians from every hospital medical and surgical subspecialty.
About Pacific Building Group
Founded in 1984, Pacific Building Group earned a strong reputation as a full-service general contractor specializing in tenant improvements. As a result of its commitment to excellent service, integrity and a personal approach, the company has grown to deliver a diverse range of construction projects, including ground-up, tenant improvement, healthcare, life science, hospitality and facilities maintenance. Today, Pacific Building Group is one of the largest and most respected locally based and operated general contracting firms in San Diego County. Through its dedicated and valued team of over 150 employees who implement the company’s vision of “Delivering the highest level of service, every time,” Pacific Building Group strives to complete projects in which employees, strategic partners and the community can take pride. For more information, please visit pacificbuildinggroup.com or call (858) 552-0600.