VA Loma Linda Breaks Ground on New Facility

The VA Loma Linda Health Care System (VALLHCS) broke ground on a major new health care facility in a small ceremony held July 9. In November, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced it had awarded a major contract to the Walsh Construction Company, a Chicago-based general contracting and design-build firm. Walsh Construction, a member of The Walsh Group, was selected through a competitive bid process to build a 271,000 square-foot Ambulatory Care Center (ACC) for VALLHCS. “The ACC will drastically improve the patient experience,” said Barbara Fallen, director of VALLHCS. “The ACC will not only give us ample space for primary care, dental, physical medicine and rehabilitation, it will also free up space at the existing Medical Center campus to expand inpatient units, specialty clinics and the emergency room. The new facility will also add more than 2,000 parking spaces, putting one of our most consistent problems behind us.” Under the terms of the build-to-suit contract, Walsh Construction will receive a lump-sum payment for construction followed by a guaranteed 20-year-lease with VA. This new facility will be located on Redlands Boulevard in Loma Linda, between Mountain View Avenue and California Street. Shuttle service will ensure that Veterans with medical appointments at the new outpatient ACC as well as the Jerry L. Pettis Memorial VA Medical Center will be able to move between the two campuses, which are approximately two miles apart. Services that remain at the existing medical center will be primarily inpatient care and specialty clinics such as oncology, audiology and surgery. The project will incorporate Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) design elements and water-wise landscaping. The LEED Green Building Rating System, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), provides a suite of standards for environmentally sustainable construction reviewed by more than 10,000 membership organizations.