Sierra View District Hospital prepares for growth Anita Stackhouse-Hite for the Porterville Recorder | 25-Mar-2009
Sierra View District Hospital prepares for growth By ANITA STACKHOUSE-HITE March 25, 2009 - 2:22 PM
Sierra View District Hospital officials continue to work on Phase One of their master plan, which includes a complete utility reroute. The work also means traffic on Putnam Avenue in front of the emergency room entrance at Sierra View District Hospital promises to be a little slow for the next few weeks. Administrative Director of Facilities Bruce Peterson said these are "exciting times" for the hospital and the community. "It's very exciting," Peterson said. "Currently, utilities that feed all the buildings are scattered throughout the campus. That's because the buildings were built at different times. We're trying to get the utilities around the perimeter of the campus." "There are two issues here: need and cost. We're preparing now for our future expansion needs." Director of Marketing and Community Relations Ramona Contreras said the work actually started on the south side of the building, the side where her office is located." "We're all very excited about this project," Contreras said. "We think the community will be happy to know what's going on and how it will benefit them." The reroute encompasses a variety of uses, most of all the enhancement of "patient care." Utilities impacted include, but are not limited to: --Electrical --Data --Telecommunications --Medical gasses (oxygen, nitrogen, etc.) --Industrial water used to cool and heat buildings Work on the utility reroute started on the south side fo the hospital complex on Oct. 6, 2008, Peterson said. Phase One will be completed on about June 1, at a cost of about $2.5 million. "We're about 75% complete, he said, of the work that includes the south, west and north sides of the medical campus. Phase One also involves identification of future building locations on the existing SVDH campus. Phase Two of the master plan, Peterson said, is to build a central utility plant on campus. "We expect to begin construction on that later this year," Peterson said. "[Meanwhile], we're trying to keep [traffic] disruption to a minimum, while we look forward to an exciting future."
