ESCONDIDO: Palomar Pomerado pours concrete for new hospital

By ANDREA MOSS - Staff Writer | Wednesday, April 23, 2008 3:16 PM PDT ∞

ESCONDIDO ---- Dozens of trucks on Wednesday began delivering more than 4,000 cubic yards of concrete to the site where Palomar Pomerado Health is building a new hospital, marking a new phase in the $811.5 million project.


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The public hospital district broke ground on the project in September. Construction workers spent months installing underground utilities for the hospital and digging a gigantic hole that will become the foundation and basement for the towering structure.

The hospital is going up on 52 acres in the Escondido Research and Technology Center. When the 11-story building is finished, it will replace Palomar Medical Center in downtown Escondido as the public hospital district's flagship facility.

On Wednesday, cement trucks began showing up at the construction site's gate off Citracado Parkway around 7:30 a.m.

The vehicles were directed to the hole, where the wet concrete was fed through metal chutes and into wooden forms for the footings and the basement's walls.

"This is a big day for us," said Mike Samudio, a senior project manager for general contractor Rudolph and Sletten. "We've had some issues we've had to overcome. But we've overcome those issues, and we're moving on."

The steady stream of cement trucks was expected to continue until about 11 a.m. By then, Samudio said, 1,200 cubic yards of concrete ---- or enough to complete one wing of the basement ---- should have been delivered. The basement walls will be 18 inches to 24 inches thick, he said.

Repeat deliveries are scheduled to occur every two weeks through October, when more than 4,000 cubic yards of concrete will have been brought to the site. Samudio said the amount is enough to fill four or five football fields about 6 inches deep.

The concrete amount and the new hospital's 765,000-square-foot size make the project one of the biggest of its kind right now in the state, he said.

The state Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development signs off on all hospital construction projects in California. Patrick Sullivan, assistant director of legislative and public affairs for the agency, said there are hospitals in the works that will be bigger than the one Palomar Pomerado Health is building.

But the local facility, which the district is calling Palomar Medical Center West, may very well be the largest under construction now, he said.

"I don't know too many people who would question that one," Sullivan said.

By comparison, city building official Joe Russo said about 1,552 cubic yards of concrete went into the nearly completed parking structure for a new police and fire administration center the city is building on Centre City Parkway in northern Escondido. The center itself will require close to 3,000 cubic yards of concrete, he said.

Heavy rain this winter was one of the problems that slowed the new hospital project. Palomar Pomerado architect Mike Shanahan said he was thrilled to be at the point where concrete is being poured.

"You're getting me out of the ground," he said. "The minute you're out of the ground, you've got steel going up, so you can see everything. And you have a lot greater control over your job site. So it feels great."

The hospital's steel superstructure will start going up in August, officials said.

Contact staff writer Andrea Moss at (760) 739-6654 or amoss@nctimes.com.

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