Thousands of jobs and long term healthcare to be created
RIVERSIDE, CA — McCarthy Building Companies, Inc., one of the premier hospital builders in the U.S., joined California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in a public ceremony on July 27, 2010 to start work on America’s first “Health and Wellness City” at the former March Air Reserve Base in Southern California.
Named “March LifeCare Campus” www.marchlifecare.com the 10-year, $3.3 billion construction project will become a unique “city” encompassing 246 acres, housing some six million square feet of health related structures including: a hospital, medical office buildings, retail, a hotel, a continuing care retirement community, wellness centers and healing gardens as well as facilities for veterans, skilled nursing, spiritual healing and ambulatory care.
Governor Schwarzenegger summed up the significance of the massive project: “This is going to become known as the ‘Mayo Clinic ‘of the West… and during construction, 12,700 construction workers will be employed. After completion, 7,200 permanent healthcare related jobs will be created.”
The March LifeCare Campus project begins at a time when the Inland Empire area suffers some of the worst unemployment in the nation while experiencing a shortage in necessary healthcare. State, county and local support for the project is unprecedented.
“We’re seeing an on-going State and local community commitment to redevelop an area that is in much need of economic growth and additional healthcare capacity,” said Michael Tuohy, McCarthy’s project director for March LifeCare.
At the ceremony, two heavy duty Link Belt demolition machines were ordered by the Governor to start taking down the first of over 16 structures to make way for the 1.4 million-square-foot first phase of the three phase project.
McCarthy Building Companies, Inc., is the general contractor for the current $4.5 million demolition work and Master Builder for the programs overall construction. U.S. Demolition Co. of Anaheim began the take-down of the first building at the ceremony.
March Healthcare Development (MHD) led by Managing Director and Project Leader Donald N. Ecker, has spent six years formulating the overall concept of the unique health and wellness venue. “We are pleased to have a firm with McCarthy’s reputation as part of our world-class team,” said Ecker. “At the Demolition Ceremony, the Governor recognized McCarthy as ‘the number one builder of hospitals in California.’”
Internationally renowned architectural firm HOK designed the Master Plan for the March LifeCare Campus.
