Best Projects, Safety: Exceptional Safety Recognized at MRMC
First planned for the city of Santa Maria in 1997, the $218-million Marian Regional Medical Center (MRMC) broke ground in October 2008 and celebrated its ribbon-cutting in March 2012.
Kitchell, the project's contractor, says one of the team's proudest moments came in 2011 when the company received a letter from CalOSHA approving the project for SHARP recognition. SHARP—the Safety and Health Achievement Recognition Program—recognizes small businesses that operate exemplary injury and illness prevention programs.
Throughout the project, which spanned more than 1,000 days and 1.1 million man-hours, there were no lost-time accidents.
The MRMC includes private patient rooms, obstetrical and gynecological services, an expanded emergency department and critical-care unit, advanced cardiac care, oncology, imaging, a healing garden, a chapel and a cafeteria.
Construction scope encompassed demolition, site improvements, concrete work, structural steel and metal decking, steel-stud framing, modified bitumen and clay-tile roofing, aluminum storefront framing and glazing, casework, interior finish work and exterior Portland cement plaster.
Kitchell also completed a two-story above-grade connector and tunnel to the existing hospital, an underground utility tunnel connecting the addition to the expanded 1993 central plant building and six tie-ins to the existing hospital.
Influenced by California Mission style, the building features a main entrance with two signature towers that rise above the four-story facade. The 235,000-sq-ft project doubled the size of the original hospital with 191 beds, 62 medical surgical beds and 46 telemetry beds.
"We started thinking about this project more than 10 years ago and over the years maintained a strong relationship with the owner, Dignity Health," says Dan Pierce, president of Kitchell, Del Mar. "This certainly helped with logistics, scheduling and permitting, all of which benefitted from the latest technological tools as well as tactics to close the design/construction divide."
Marian Regional Medical Center
Santa Maria
Key Players
Owner: Dignity Health, San Francisco
Contractor: Kitchell, Del Mar
Lead Design: Moon Mayoras Architects, San Diego
Submitted by Kitchell
