OMAHA, NEB. — McCarthy Building Cos. has completed construction of the Omaha VA Ambulatory Care Center, an $86 million, 157,000-square-foot outpatient facility for veterans.
The property includes seven primary-care units, an outpatient surgery suite and a specialty medicine unit allowing 400 additional patients to visit the clinic each day, as well as a dedicated women’s health clinic area. The new facility, which is connected to the existing 12-story VA Medical Campus, will open to patients this month.
This is the first center in the country to take advantage of the C.H.I.P.I.N. for Vets Act passed through Congress in 2016, according to McCarthy. Under the law, the VA is permitted to accept private donations to complete construction projects. The VA entered a public-private partnership with nonprofit group Veterans Ambulatory Center Development Corp. (VACDC) to save taxpayers roughly $30 million.
The law also requires the builder to use innovative delivery techniques that fall outside federally prescribed specifications and methods. Such initiatives include subsurface utility mapping, virtual design and construction, and using a design-assist subcontracting approach instead of a hard-bid approach. McCarthy claims it completed the project four months ahead of schedule.
“Breaking from the traditional design-bid-build delivery format allowed for creative solutions, more efficiency and functionality, a shorter timeline and ultimately, greater value for the VA,” says Ryan Sawall, vice president of McCarthy Building. “We were able to take advantage of the technical and economic innovations commonly used in private sector projects, including performance specifications, modern quality assurance, quality construction processes and strategic partnerships.”
Architectural firm Leo A Daly designed the facility, which features a 12,000-square-foot folded glass curtain wall designed to resemble an American flag rippling in the wind. There is also a 9,000-square-foot wall featuring differently hued glass panes that evoke ribbon bars awarded to service members.
— Alex Tostado