Camp Pendleton has broken ground on the largest Navy construction project in the federal stimulus fund program.
The new 500,000 foot Naval Hospital will have an ocean view and state of the art medical facilities for 150,000 military service members, their families and retirees.
Motorists driving north on Interstate 5 will be able to see the new multi-story building going up. It’s on 70 acres next to the freeway, and will service patients from bases around Southern California.
The hospital will have about 60 beds, fewer than the existing Naval Hospital that operates 12 miles away on the base. That hospital was build 35 years ago with 600 beds, though the number is now down to about 72. Current health care methods focus on outpatient treatment. But the new facility will offer surgery, dental treatments and emergency care.
“We are truly in the midst of an unprecedented five-year construction boom here at Camp Pendleton,” he said. “There are currently 63 active projects across this base, with a total dollar value of $1.9 billion.”
Marano said once the hospital replacement project is fully underway, approximately 10,000 construction workers will work at Camp Pendleton on a daily basis.
“A project like this does attract national interest,” he said, “but the overwhelming majority of them will be San Diego employees.”
Construction is on a fast track and the hospital is scheduled to open in 2014.
