District Partners with the Phoenix VA Medical Center on Six Construction Projects

By Robert DeDeaux

USACE Los Angeles District

February 22, 2023

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District is partnering with the Phoenix Veterans Affairs Health Care System to oversee construction of six projects, totaling more than $35 million.

Brig. Gen. Antoinette Gant, the Corps’ South Pacific Division commander – who oversees four districts within the division, including the Los Angeles District – met with VA partners and the LA District’s chief of International and Interagency Services during a site visit at the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center Feb. 2 in Midtown Phoenix.

During her visit, Gant was briefed about projects the team is collaborating on at the center, including renovations to the Inpatient Ward 2C area; dietetics kitchen; expanding emergency backup power to the VA’s HVAC system and for heating and cooling systems of the outpatient clinics and administration areas; renovations to the VA Infusion Center and the second floor Inpatient Radiology Department; and expanding the existing parking garage by 389 parking spaces.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineer South Pacific Division Commander Brig. Gen. Antoinette Gant, right, converses with a Phoenix VA Health Care Systems nurse, foreground left, during a tour of the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical center Feb.2 in Midtown Phoenix. The Corps’ LA District, in partnership with the Phoenix VA Medical Care System, are collaborating on six projects at the medical center.
(Photo by Robert DeDeaux, USACE PAO)

“These projects will deliver bold solutions to serve and strengthen Arizona’s veteran community,” Gant said. “This is just another example of how the Corps and the Department of Veterans Affairs are partnering to support our nation’s veterans and warfighters.”

Construction of the first project – remodeling of Inpatient Ward 2C – is scheduled to begin this summer.

The project will result in 18 single-patient rooms, clinician space, and the integration of building and medical systems over an 11,488-square-foot area.

“From an engineering and construction standpoint, the LA District took great consideration into the layout and design of these projects with VA staff and patients’ needs in mind,” said John Drake, chief of the LA District’s International and Interagency Services, the program that oversees VA Minor projects for the district.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineer South Pacific Division Commander Brig. Gen. Antoinette Gant, right center, met with Phoenix VA Health Care System Director Bryan Matthews, left center, during a project site visit Feb. 2 at the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical Center in Midtown Phoenix. John Drake, LA District chief of International and Interagency Services, far right, and Elijah Ditter, Phoenix VA Associate Director of Resources, far left, also were among the senior leaders discussing the future projects.
(Photo by Robert DeDeaux, USACE PAO)

“We value our partnership with the Phoenix VA and are looking forward to starting the first project,” he added. “The Inpatient Ward 2C remodeling project will assist so many Arizona veterans.”

During the tour, Gant also met with Bryan Mathews, director of the Phoenix VA Health Care System, and Elijah Ditter, associate director of resources for the health care system.

“We are looking forward to partnering with the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers,” Ditter said. “The Corp brings extensive engineering and project management experience and will support multiple construction projects across the main campus to better serve our growing veteran population.”

Nationally, the Corps supports the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Office of Construction and Facilities Management in delivering major medical facilities. The Los Angeles District is part of the South Pacific Division, which oversees the largest VA design and construction program across the Corps. The Corps’ partnership with the VA in the region includes nine major projects and an investment of more than $5.8 billion in updating and upgrading facilities throughout the Pacific Southwest.

For more information about LA District’s programs and projects, visit https://www.spl.usace.army.mil.

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