CMHS Construction Updates Building a New Community Memorial Hospital Modernizing Ojai Valley Community Hospital

September 2010 CMHS Project Bulletin

GARY K. WILDE President & CEO,
Community Memorial Health System

Our goal is to keep you updated on the different construction projects occurring at both Community Memorial and Ojai Valley hospitals. We hope that you find these periodic project bulletins informative.

The multi-faceted approval stages with the City of Ventura and the State of California continue to move forward. As reported in the last Project Bulletin, we received feedback on the Environmental Impact Review study and the city staff has addressed those comments. A new draft has been re-circulated and a presentation is scheduled with the Planning Commission in early October.

This meeting will also include discussion of the street improvements and the property exchanges which are still awaiting formal approval. Final approval of the EIR is tentatively scheduled to go before the Ventura City Council in November. We are also moving through the permit process with the California Office of State Health Planning and Development. This procedure continues to be on schedule and we anticipate receiving final state approval by late fall.

The demolition of homes and buildings on the parcel of land adjacent to the existing hospital, and part of the site for the new hospital has been completed. In addition, we are in the final stages of completing an extensive landscape plan for the new hospital

Construction of the new, state-of-the-art PACU (Post Anesthesia Care Unit) is nearing conclusion and should be completed by the end of September. Currently, crews are completing the finishing work including drywall, paint and flooring.

Once the construction is complete, the Department of Health Services will be notified. DHS officials must review and inspect the completed project before the Office of Statewide Planning and Development will issue a Certificate of Occupancy. This process takes several weeks to complete. Once the hospital receives the Certificate of Occupancy for the PACU, paving the facility’s parking lot will begin, likely in late November.

Work on the facility’s master plan for modernization continues, and initial drafts are scheduled for review by the end of September.

The new Cancer Center remains on schedule and is nearing its final stages of construction. The end of the summer found crews completing the major structural and mechanical work. In late August, work began on installation of the exterior glass. This will continue through September. Throughout the month, the exterior plaster walls will be completed and then painted. Once the scaffolding is removed, sidewalks around the building will be formed and landscaping will begin. The landscaping will feature a modern concept highlighted by drought tolerant plants and trees along the sidewalk and in the center’s parking lot, which was completed and paved in late August.

Work has also begun on a beautiful, L-shaped reflecting pond located outside the main entrance of the center adjacent to a covered walkway. The 20 x 30 foot pond will be lighted and feature natural rock formations and water lilies. Moreover, the reflecting pond will be able to be seen through the glass from inside the building.

Work has been simultaneously taking place on the structure’s interior to complete the fire sprinkler system and drywall. The early fall will be busy with several different trades completing the center’s finish work including paint, flooring, and installing woodwork and cabinetry. September will also see the installation of accelerators – a key component to the radiation equipment in the vaults.

Gary K. Wilde, President & CEO
Community Memorial Health System