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A healthy addition: North Bay carpenters expand Kaiser Santa Rosa
Schools, bridges and roads, and hospitals—they’re the steady-on infrastructure projects, both public and private, that shelter children while they’re getting educated, keep people safe on the road, give a home to our health-care system, and keep union carpenters working. In Sonoma County, Kaiser Santa Rosa is adding a six-story building to its medical center. The new North Tower will increase the number of beds in the hospital to nearly 200, double the size of the emergency department and intensive care unit, and add a new radiology unit to the center. Begun in May 2007, this multi-phase 146,000+ square foot, $100 million project is scheduled to open in October 2010. “It’s the largest project going in the area—in Sonoma County—to be sure,” says Dan Digardi, Local 751 field representative. “At the height of the work, we had more than 100 carpenters out there.”  Bob Brodsky (left), and Dalton McKay (right), both of Local 751.  L-R: Foreman Kevin Heath, Local 22; Steve Green, Local 751; and foreman Uriah Green, Local 713. In these tough times, when Local 751 is running about 200 journeymen and 31 apprentices on the out-of-work list, it’s nice to have a solid project like this one going in the county. According to the San Francisco Business Times’ “2009 Bay Area Book of Lists,” the Kaiser Santa Rosa Medical Center hospital expansion is the largest construction project in the North Bay, the 4th largest hospital construction project in the Bay Area, and the 16th largest construction project in the entire Bay Area.  Roy Williams, Local 2236.  First-period apprentice Joey Mendoza, Local 751.  Jeff Steiner, Local 751. More than just records though, for the general contractor on the hospital project, Harbison-Mahony-Higgins Builders Inc. (HMH Builders), it’s a chance to showcase their commitment to sustainable construction practices on the job.  Foreman Tom Mercure, Local 152. One of the goals the Sacramento-based union-signatory has is to best the self-regulated Green Guide for Healthcare Standards (GGHC) by keeping recyclable materials out of the local landfill. By establishing rigorous on-site practices for sorting and handling waste, the “HMH team has recycled more than 90 percent of the construction debris hauled off the jobsite,” according to HMH’s website. It’s not just good for the environment, it’s good for business, amounting to upwards of $45,000 in savings to Kaiser Permanente. Inside on the fourth floor, work goes on. The 25 carpenters and drywallers still employed on the project hang sheetrock and finish up construction. Tom Mercure, one of the foremen on the job and Local 152 member, leads the way down a dim corridor lined with new drywall, although power cables still snake along the concrete floor. “The week after next they’ll start laying the floors,” he says, with a mixture of pride and chagrin. “Once that happens this will start to look like a hospital instead of a construction site.”.  Mateo Martinez, Local 68L.  Clinton Parra, Local 2236.  Michael Olivarez, Local 751.  Adam Dodds, Local 751.  Jube Begley (left) and fifth-period apprentice Juan Reyes, both from Local 751.
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