How many miles of new wires and plumbing will it take to complete Clovis Community Medical Center’s $300 million expansion? Try 237 miles of electrical wiring and 15 miles of new pipes in a monumental project that will nearly triple the hospital’s size and give all patients a private room.

Those 237 miles – or 1.25 million linear feet – of wiring will help bring electricity to 7,100 new light fixtures. And the 15 miles of plumbing will hook up 2,500 new plumbing fixtures, including 400 toilets. It’s all part of the plan to meet the growing healthcare needs of a rapidly expanding population. Clovis Community’s service area is projected to grow by 15,000 people in the next five years and see a 43% increase in overall growth in the next twenty years.

The project started in 2008 with the renovation and expansion of the Marjorie E. Radin Breast Care Center, a new endoscopy center, four new operating rooms and additional room for the only Level 3 (highest level) fertility center between Los Angeles and Sacramento.

A multi-level parking garage opened in 2010, and when construction is finished in 2013 the expanded hospital will have a dedicated Women’s and Infants’ Pavilion, a new Special Care Nursery, 24 intensive care unit (ICU) beds, 11 inpatient surgical suites and 205 private rooms. It’s the largest expansion Community Medical Centers has made since opening the six-story trauma and critical care building at its downtown hospital in 2007.

The whole thing is estimated to take 1.5 million man hours and employ 4,000 construction workers. Approximately 65% of the construction labor is expected to be local with a mix of 95% union labor and 5% independent for all contractors.

To help us complete the vision of this monumental expansion call Community Medical Foundation at (559) 459-2670.

Erin Kennedy reported this story. She can be reached at MedWatchToday@communitymedical.org.