Scheduled for completion early next year
Construction continues for the Emergency Department expansion at Antelope Valley Medical Center.
The new addition will be 7,200 square feet and certified as a California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development Level 1 facility. The building will include 40 new treatment bays, a nurses’ station and support areas.
It is composed of 16 prefabricated modules shipped to Lancaster and hoisted into place at the site to the south of the existing Emergency Department.
Fifteen of the modules will be used for emergency room capacity and the 16th will house the associated equipment for the air conditioning, heating and ventilation systems.
The expansion is expected to be completed late this year or early next year.
Construction for the expansion was delayed by the discovery of a number of utility lines, some still in use and others abandoned, during excavation for the expansion’s footings. These included everything from electrical to sprinklers, sewer to IT.
“A lot of these, we didn’t have accurate drawings” of where they were, Director of Facilities George Rowerdink reported in September to the board.
Expanding capacity for the hospital’s busy emergency department has been a goal for several years.
A survey of emergency room visits for 2021, compiled by Becker’s Hospital Review, listed the medical center as having the 10th-highest total of emergency room visits, with 130,659, according to a report published in December.
