Industry News

Fiona Stanley Hospital broke ground on its $1.76 billion facility in Murdoch, Western Australia, in July of 2008. The 643-bed hospital will serve as Western Australia's flagship healthcare facility and is slated for completion in late 2013. The technology-rich tertiary hospital will include a trauma center, heart and lung transplant services, and teaching facilities.

The University of California, Riverside will begin construction in 2010 on a $508 million complex for its new medical school. Sited on 40 acres, the project includes two research and medical instruction facilities and a vivarium for animal research. The medical school will initially occupy a renovated building when it opens in 2012.

Pradco (Plastic Research and Development Co.) is planning to build a $21 million manufacturing facility in Fort Smith, Ark. Sited in the 7,000-acre Chaffee Crossing corporate park, the 300,000-sf facility will more than double Pradco’s plastic manufacturing operations.

Stempeutics Research opened a 5,000-sf stem cell research facility on the campus of Manipal University in India in July of 2008. Located at Shirdi Sai Baba Cancer Hospital, the cGMP laboratory will support therapeutics research and production with two Class 10,000 cleanrooms. The facility is designed to USA Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy (FACT) standards and employ cGTP (current Good Tissue Practice) manufacturing processes.

Mercy Medical Center’s $262 million hospital in Merced, Calif., is slated for completion in December of 2009. Housing 196 private patient rooms, the 265,000-sf, eight-story facility will open to patients in spring of 2010. Mercy Medical Center is part of Catholic Healthcare West.