Industry News

The United Kingdom’s National Health Service will begin construction in the second quarter of 2009 on a £267 million acute care hospital in Enniskillen in Northern Ireland. The four-story, 312-bed facility will include an emergency department, private patient rooms, surgical suites, laboratories, and outpatient care. The facility will also provide obstetric, pediatric, women’s health, and critical care services. Occupancy is expected in 2012.

Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) opened the $107 million Western Regional Medical Center in Goodyear, Ariz., in December of 2008. Sited on 25 acres, the 24-bed hospital will provide traditional and alternative cancer therapy for up to 300 patients a day.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is expanding its animal research and storage facilities in White Cross, N.C. An animal storage building and a well and water treatment plant is slated for completion in early 2009. The University is also planning to construct additional storage, research, and treatment facilities at the Research Resources Facility site for dogs, pigs, rodents, and sheep.

Florida Atlantic University is initiating a $44 million renovation of Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in Fort Pierce. The project includes construction of a marine mammal hospital and 30,000-sf of laboratory space and extensive renovation and replacement of existing facilities. The project will accommodate environmental, biomedical, and water quality research.

Virginia Tech is building the $24 million Institute for Critical Technologies & Applied Science (ICTAS) Phase II in Blacksburg, Va. The three-story, 43,000-gsf facility will house specialized labs for applied and fundamental research in bioengineering, biomaterials,and bio-nanotechnology. The project will accommodate the development of communications and sensor technologies and includes offices and support spaces. Virginia Tech is also constructing the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute (VBI) Facility Addition.