By Khalida Sarwari
The Regional Medical Center of San Jose broke ground to begin construction for the hospital’s new 160,000-square-foot tower on Thursday, as part of a project that is expected to create up to 2,000 construction jobs.
“With construction unemployment at 30 percent, this is a big deal, a big investment,” Mayor Chuck Reed said during the groundbreaking ceremony Thursday morning.
The tower is a major phase of the hospital’s $300 million expansion and renovation project, scheduled to be completed in early 2014, hospital spokeswoman Bev Mikalonis said.
Once completed, the four-story tower will provide 81 new private beds.
The project began eight years ago, Mikalonis said.
The intensive care unit was first expanded in 2009 and then again last June, opening a new wing that added 33 private beds.
Currently, a second story is being built, which will open early next year and add an additional 35 beds.
In addition, a breast care center with digital mammography is slated to open this summer, Mikalonis said.
The hospital’s emergency room will also undergo an expansion and renovation this year, which is scheduled to be finished in late 2012.
The Hospital Corporation of America, a national health care services provider, funded the newest construction project.