Veterans Administration - Puerto Rico - Replacement Bed Building

In an effort to meet the needs of our service personnel in past wars, as well as those who have suffered injuries in the current wars or deployment in the Middle East, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is upgrading existing facilities and building new ones to provide medical services to military veterans. In San Juan, the existing facility is outdated—nearly 50 years old—and a new state-of-the-art building was designed to replace the bed tower. Because of its location in an area of high seismic and hurricane activity, the building must be able to withstand these forces and also be self-sustaining for power and water.

The 225,000 SF stand-alone building, which replaces over 250 beds in the existing building, will have capacity for 314 patients and will house the surgical, mental health and medical wards.  Patients will receive services for spinal cord injury, intensive care, cardiac care, rehabilitation and transitional nursing home care. The project also includes renovation of portions of the basement, first and second floors of the existing medical building and the construction of connecting corridors to the new building. A section of the existing building will be renovated to become an Outpatient Spinal Cord Injury Clinic. The VA also specified anti-terrorism requirements for the facility, so the design incorporates a reinforced concrete shearwall shell that both meets the high seismic requirements and provides blast protection and progressive collapse.