New hospital construction begins

BARSTOW • Construction is finally set to begin on Barstow’s new hospital and is still scheduled to be finished by the end of 2012, hospital officials say.

Workers have already begun grading the site at Mountain View Street and Helen Runyon Drive across the street from the existing hospital. By the end of the year contractors will have laid the hospital’s foundation and utility lines, said hospital spokesman John Rader. Officials are still waiting for the state to approve the hospital’s structural work.

“We’re excited that we’re finally able to turn dirt on the site,” Rader said. “And our community is well on its way to having a new hospital by the end of 2012.”

The new hospital will include 30 private beds, a bigger emergency room and expanded operating rooms. It will also include a more advanced maternity department and intensive care unit.

In 2005 the city, which owns the current hospital building, entered into an agreement with operator Community Health Systems to build the new hospital. In June 2009, the City Council approved changes to the new hospital’s plans, which cut the number of beds in half and pushed the completion date back to Nov. 30, 2012. The city has until 2020 to build the hospital to comply with California seismic safety codes.

Even though the number of beds in the new hospital have decreased from 60 to 30, the new hospital will still be the size of a 60-bed facility, said Sandy Baca, president of the hospital’s board of trustees. Not only will the hospital draw people from Newberry Springs, Hinkley and other parts of the Barstow area, patients from Victorville and Apple Valley will want to visit as well, she said.

City Council candidate Carmen Hernandez, who last year had accused Community Health Systems of pressuring the Council to change their agreement, said she’s glad the hospital is being built. She said she’ll be monitoring the process to ensure the hospital gets completed.

“I wanted to make sure we get a quality facility that’s going to meet our citizens’ needs,” she said.

Groundbreaking on the new hospital has been a long time coming, Baca said. Getting everything approved by the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development is difficult.

“It’s not something you can just do overnight,” she said. “We’re very excited about it. It’s going to have all the amenities that would hold a 60-bed hospital.”

The hospital will hold a brief groundbreaking ceremony at 4:15 p.m. Sept. 8 at the site of the new hospital. Hospital officials, elected officials and other dignitaries will be there to scoop up the first shovelful of dirt.

Contact the writer:
(760) 256-4123 or jcejnar@desertdispatch.com

Fast facts:
Overall size: 80,000 square feet
Current hospital size: 56,000 square feet
Number of beds: 30
Construction start date: Sept. 8, 2010
Estimated completion date: Nov. 30, 2012