The first structural steel column was set in place today for a critical care building at Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas, set to open in early summer 2014.
Construction crews set and anchored the first column for the building,
which is part the $94 million second phase of the hospital's expansion project, which will also include a new central energy plant and various infrastructure improvements.
Topping out of the building's structural steel is expected to be completed in late August.
The planned two-story facility, which will house 27 emergency room beds on the first floor and three dozen medical-surgical beds on the second, will eventually replace the current emergency room, which is less than half the size.
Scripps officials said the rapid growth and development in North County resulted in a need for expanded health care services. A multi-phase, $200 million-plus development plan is in the works to meet the community's growing health care needs, according to Scripps.
