The Louisville VA Medical Center is reaching a three-year construction milestone

Louisville, Ky. – After three years of construction, the Louisville VA Medical Center is more than halfway finished and is starting to look like a concept image of the completed facility. This is because most of the original heavy equipment is gone and work has moved on to interior construction.

Dave Kopecky, a resident engineer at the Louisville VA Medical Center, said the work is progressing over time.

“We are already 60 percent through the entire construction period. “We’ve just gone through part of all the major pieces of work and now there’s a lot of internal work to be done,” he said.

“Some important things that have just been completed include the water tower which is under construction, but we still have to inspect it. We have an exterior skin going up to the North Parking Garage, which will completely change its look, from a concrete box to a more attractive one,” Kopecky added. “On top of the North Parking Garage, we also have solar panels installed.”

“In the hospital itself, you can see the outer skin going on. Inside, there’s internal work being done on all levels,” he said. rise in some areas that are very depleted. The second floor is the first to advance to that level. Also, the air handling units on the sixth floor had just been installed.”

Kopecky said one of the main focuses at the site right now is work on the Central Utility Plant.

“They are going through some final stages of work. That will be the heartbeat of the hospital providing power and heat. Once it is up, it will be able to provide temporary heat for construction during the cold months,” he explained.

All this work requires a lot of manpower and cooperation.

“We have about 800 tradesmen now working in the hospital for all the parts, from the walls to the machines, the medical gas. The organization of all the work that is going on is very complicated, but it is nice to see everything comes together,” Kopecky said.

He said he looks forward to seeing the facility completed.

“The physical construction is scheduled to be completed in 2026. Then we will turn the building over to the VA and they will have what they call an operational period where they use their final procedures, bring my equipment in the house, before it opens to patients,” he said. explained. “This will be my hospital, like a hero, once it is finished and I am very happy that we will have a new hospital. I am very lucky and privileged to be part of this project.”

The Louisville VA Medical Center is a $920 million project that includes construction of a new 910,115-square-foot medical center, parking facilities, a 42,205-square-foot central plant, roads, sidewalks and other improvements of space.

The new 104-bed, full-service hospital will provide world-class health care for more than 45,000 Veterans in Kentucky and Southern Indiana by integrating modern care concepts of patients to provide the best care for Veterans. Additionally, to specifically address the needs of female Veterans, the new hospital will include a Women’s Health Clinic with four Intensive Care Units.

The project developed by URS-Smith Group Joint Venture is being built by Walsh-Turner Joint Venture II, Chicago, Illinois.

Construction is expected to be completed in 2026.

To learn more about the program visit: www.va.gov/louisville-health-care/programs/new-robley-rex-va-medical-center.