Kaweah Delta Expands Visalia Facility

Central Valley-based Kaweah Delta Health Care District is adding a six-story patient tower to its main facility in downtown Visalia to improve its capacity in three key acute care services - cardiac, emergency and maternity care - and will increase total bed capacity initially by 87 beds.

Slated for completion in 2008, the $142 million North Expansion Project adds 248,000 sq ft as well as a surface parking lot (the city is building an additional four-story parking facility across the street).

Hensel Phelps is the general contractor on the project, which was designed by the Christiansen Group Architects of Visalia (Quad Knopf Architects of Visalia was also involved in the initial design). Harris & Associates of Fresno is the construction manager.

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At press time, Hensel Phelps' project manager Jason Burke says the steel has been erected and decks completed on level two. "Everything's going smoothly, which means that the planning was very good," he says.

The top two stories will remain unfinished; eventually, 48 more beds will occupy those floors, raising the total for the hospital to 625.