FORT LEE, Va. (Feb. 9, 2012) -- After several years of renovations, the Colonel Bull Dental Clinic is nearly ready for patients.
The clinic, which had relocated to trailers, will hold its ribbon-cutting ceremony Feb. 16.
The renovated facility is replete with dental treatment rooms for general dentistry and surgery, a new prosthetics lab, x-ray rooms, instrument sterilization facilities and ancillary support facilities.
While the shell of the building remains, the interior was gutted during this more than $13 million project. Renovation efforts provided for a new roof, interior architectural finishes, and mechanical, electrical, plumbing and dental gas systems.
The clinic will offer 39 dental chairs, digital X-ray units in treatment rooms, an electronic patient queuing system and a state-of-the-art dental lab, said Capt. Stephen Sebastian, Fort Lee's new dental facilities transition officer. The building includes a new addition built on the east side that will offer extra dental treatment rooms and office space. Construction contractors also renovated the patient waiting room and reception area.
While the dentists made temporary modular structures work during the renovation process, Sebastian said the trailers were never intended to be used this long. Construction completion was delayed due to unanticipated modifications.
"Needless to say, the trailers have taken a toll with the volume of business that we do," said Sebastian. "The renovated facility incorporates much more working space and is better equipped. There will be no comparison between what we have now and the improved facility."
The clinic rebuild required two separate construction projects - one of them focusing on the existing 17,800-square-foot structure and the other centered on the addition that added 2,600 square feet to the facility.
The clinic will be a nice improvement over the current offerings on Fort Lee, Sebastian said..
"It's a more comfortable clinic all around," said Sebastian. "From the waiting room to the treatment rooms, patients will have a much more pleasant experience."
The new clinic will be able to continue all of the dental work they've been doing at the temporary location, while sedation cases will be seen at the new Troop Medical and Dental Clinic on the Ordnance Campus, which opened September 2011.
This project has been long in the making, said Sebastian, and the clinic staff are excited to offer this new facility to its patients.
"There have been many setbacks and delays, but it is finally coming to an end, and the renovated facility will be a good one," he said. "We are all very eager to get into our new building and continue offering our patients the best dental care there is."
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