Naval Hospital to Mark Major Construction Milestone

A ceremony will held at Camp Pendleton Tuesday to mark an important milestone in the construction of a new 500,000-square-foot Naval hospital, base officials announced today.

Crews have completed the building exterior and are preparing to move on to finish interior work, according to Camp Pendleton's public affairs office. The office also reported today that the $450-million project is 81 percent complete and on track to be completed next winter.

Tuesday's ceremony is scheduled to start at 11:45 a.m. It comes just over a year after base officials celebrated the topping out of building's frame in similar ceremonious fashion.

The hospital is expected to be fully operational by Spring 2014. It will replace the base's existing 72-bed hospital building. The new hospital will have 62 inpatient beds, more than 200 exam rooms and nearly 100 outpatient procedure rooms.

Funding for the new hospital came from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

—City News Service