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Bethesda, Md.-based Clark Construction earned $617.5 million design-build contract to build a state-of-the-art health facility in El Paso, Texas, for the Fort Worth District of the US Army Corps of Engineers, according to a Jan. 4 release.
The approximately 493,000-square-foot project at Fort Bliss will provide outpatient services to veterans, including primary care, mental health care and ambulatory surgery.
The Sunbelt and the Southwest have saw an influx of veterans in recent years, it prompted VA Secretary Denis McDonough to call for the closure of VA facilities in the Northeast, Midwest and rural West to deal with the changing population. in the southwest, the presence of veterans could increase by 25% over the next decade, while the presence of ex-military in regions like New England could drop by 18%, according to the Washington Post.
Clark has experience in the health project field, having taken on 134 health-related jobs in the past decade, totaling 20 million square feet and 5,158 hospital beds, according to the contractor’s website. Among these projects are the 1.3 million square feet William Beaumont Army Medical Centeralso at Fort Bliss.
Clark’s work on the new project will include major services, a new central power plant, access roads, surface parking, stormwater management and landscaping.
When complete, the project will provide health services to 54,000 veterans in the region, according to Michael Brennan, executive director of the VA’s Office of Construction and Facilities Management. Brennan said the Clark award “is the result of VA’s efforts to improve the planning and implementation of a design-build project.”
