North Carolina VA Health Care Complex Complete

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – JE Dunn  Construction recently completed the $104-million Veterans Affairs Health Care Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The six-story, brick and glass, outpatient services complex encompasses 430,000 square feet, of which 295,000 square feet are dedicated to clinical use. Cardiology, dermatology, audiology, women’s health, mental health and prosthetics are among the more than 20 services planned for the center, which includes four operating rooms and 17 kidney dialysis units.

Childress Klein Properties and Cambridge Development Group formed Childress Klein-Cambridge Healthcare Solutions to design, build and manage the building, which it owns and leases to the VA — the VA’s largest lease-acquisition medical facility. JE Dunn was general contractor for the project and RPA Design was architect of record.

Veteran friendly
An estimated 140,000 veterans live in metropolitan Charlotte, and the VA’s Salisbury district is home to some 250,000 ex-military women and men. The region also has one of the fastest growing veteran populations in the U.S. The new center will augment patient care provided by other facilities in the Salisbury district.

The Charlotte VA HCC reflects the project team’s commitment to veteran-centered caregiving and accommodation. The 37-acre campus is convenient to an interstate highway and has more than 1,900 parking spaces, including slots designated for motorcycles and bicycles. Handicap parking is convenient to the building’s entrance, where a canopy handily accommodates three vehicles simultaneously loading and unloading passengers.

Inside, the center is bright and spacious, and designed for easy navigation by patients and healthcare personnel. Each of the building’s three clinic floors is identified by a colorful wall mural with a familiar North Carolina nature theme—Grandfather Mountain and Cape Hatteras, for example. Fountains, courtyards and quiet spaces contribute to the atmosphere of well-being and peace.

By the numbers

• $104 million construction budget
• 800,000 construction hours
• 295,000 square feet for clinical use
• 40,000 veteran capacities annually
• 2,000 jobs generated during construction
• 1,900 parking spaces
• 20+ medical services provided
• 0 work days lost to incidents