Showcase Projects
University of California, San Diego School of Medicine

The University of California, San Diego School of Medicine is staffed by some of the nation's finest physicians. In fact, more than 100 UCSD doctors were recently honored by their peers as "The Best Doctors in America." These medical professionals practice at the San Diego region's only academic medical center, UCSD Medical Center - Hillcrest. The recently renovated, 440-bed hospital is the primary site for such regional services as a comprehensive organ transplant program, the Regional Burn Center, and the county's only Level I Trauma Center.

Like the human body, UCSD Medical Center - Hillcrest requires constant care to stay in peak condition. One improvement under way at the hospital will update its aging sewer system. University Mechanical is completing a three-phased project that will replace an existing, 10-inch line with two 8-inch lines totaling more than 1,000 linear feet. The project includes replacing flooring inside the hospital kitchen and dishwashing areas and in the nuclear medicine area and installing a 10,000-gallon grease interceptor underground.

Think of our work as a complex medical transplant, and you'll have the right idea. Innovative engineering and equally innovative infection-control measures are highlights of this project.

Needing to trench under an existing concrete canopy that is supported by columns and atop which sits a hospital laboratory, we were confronted with daunting challenges. We couldnct undermine the canopy's support, nor could we fit large excavating equipment in the tight space. Intense engineering resulted in a plan to phase the trenching, with the result that we dug a shallow hole under the canopy with small equipment and then, within that hole, dug two 28-foot-deep trenches.

Working inside the hospital has its own set of difficulties, notably the need to complete cement cutting and excavation of trenches in the basement without disturbing the patients on the floors above and while completely controlling dust, mold, and other sources of infection. University crews are on site only between the hours of 7 p.m. and 5 a.m. - and are allowed to make noise only during the first three hours of the shift.

Our infection-control measures for this project are unique, having never before been taken in a San Diego-area hospital. Under the watchful eye of a staff industrial hygienist, our mechanical crews erect poly containment areas with flaps (sort of like huge tents) in which to work. A hepa-filter system creates negative pressure inside the containment areas, drawing the air and any possible contaminants to the outside of the hospital.

The UCSD Medical Center - Hillcrest Team:
Architect: Rodriguez Park
Mechanical engineer: Syska & Hennessy
Infection-control consultant: Janus Corp.
Prime contractor: University Mechanical & Engineering Contractors
University project manager: James Page
Plumbing foreman: Neil Gagian

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