Series of Healthcare Projects in Southern California Spin Off From Successful Sunset Boulevard MOB Job

Teamwork, experience and a commitment to not only meet, but to exceed, owners’ expectations have formed the foundation for DPR’s lasting relationships with many clients over the years. In the healthcare arena, those qualities laid the groundwork for a series of projects that DPR has recently completed or has underway in Southern California for leading healthcare provider, Kaiser Permanente, Inc.

Sunset Boulevard MOB

DPR’s ability to overcome the challenges — and the fast-track schedule — on the first Kaiser Medical Office Building (MOB) project in downtown Los Angeles proved a stepping-stone to the award of three additional projects in the region. The Sunset Boulevard project consists of ground up construction of a new 60,000-sq.-ft., three-level MOB, including an OSHPD 3 surgery center on the second floor. One major challenge was the extremely tight project site, bordered by a residential area on one side, the historic Route 66 on Sunset Boulevard on another, and a church and busy New Hampshire Avenue on the other sides. Compounding the challenges were the site’s poor soil conditions, which required DPR to export and import an estimated 17,700 cubic yards of soil.

Kaiser’s need to relocate from its existing MOB across the street drove the extremely fast-track schedule. During an intensive preconstruction planning phase that began in July 2000, the team strategized how to shave more than two months off the schedule and close out the project in late September. Some of the time-saving measures included self-performing concrete and drywall work during construction, early MEP coordination, and, during the building certification phase, commissioning all of the air units during off hours at night.

DPR Project Manager Tif Frost credits a strong, collaborative team effort with making the ambitious schedule a reality. In fact, DPR was able to achieve the Temporary Certificate of Occupancy (TCO) two days ahead of schedule. Despite user changes to the second floor surgery area after the project received the TCO, the project team was still able to get Department of Health Services inspections completed on time.

According to David Chacon, senior project manager for Kaiser Permanente, in a letter to the project team, achieving the TCO two days ahead of schedule was a feat in itself; however, with the amount of user changes on the O.R. floors, it became “an extremely daunting challenge to pull off.” He added that “through the extremely professional approach of Tif Frost, Larry Johnson, Rudy Olaguez, other DPR staff and subcontractors running around the building, Kaiser Permanente has succeeded in a very large challenge.”

Getting the Job Done

“It took a major team effort that included an extremely cooperative owner’s rep, an on-site architect (Widom Wein Cohen O’Leary Teresawa Morimoto Interiors) and a great staff,” Frost comments. “With the tight timeframe and limited project site, we were like one big family at the jobsite level, picking up where others left off and running with the ball to get the job done.”

Following the successful start of the Kaiser Sunset Boulevard project, DPR received three additional jobs from Kaiser. They include:

• A demolition and reconstruction of a 17,618-sq.-ft. facility in Hollywood, CA, completed in October 2002;
• A 7,800-sq.-ft. tenant improvement of an optometry center in a Kaiser facility in a historical area of Pasadena, CA; and
• The entire 28-acre medical campus in Ontario, CA.

New Campus Construction

Located on an open field site, Kaiser’s Ontario campus is planned to include a 55,000-sq.-ft. surgery center; a 60,000-sq.-ft., two-story call center with 416 call stations; a four-story above ground and one-story below ground MOB/radiation therapy building; and a central plant and IT building designed and built to California Office of Statewide Health and Planning Development (OSHPD) structural standards, as well as all offsite street improvements and site development.

DPR broke ground on Phase I of the new campus this August, and is slated to complete the project in October 2003. According to Project Manager John McDonald, preplanning and early procurement of long-lead items, such as equipment, are critical to the team’s ability to meet the fast-track 18-month project schedule. “We’re trying to do as much as possible up front to avoid issues during the construction phases,” he comments. DPR’s experience with multiple-building campuses and managing overlapping schedules will contribute to the successful completion of this project.