PRESIDIO OF MONTEREY, Calif. -The Army Health Clinic at the Presidio of Monterey is "state of the art" following an extensive renovation, say spokespersons for the Army's California Medical Detachment (CalMed), which operates the facility. The renovation was phased in over a 28-month span and cost approximately $10 million, they reported. A ribbon-cutting ceremony staged in the clinic's reception area on Dec. 15 marked the official beginning of the facility's new era.
CalMed provides medical and health maintenance services to members of all military services and their families. Many users of the Presidio Health Clinic are students of the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center (DLIFLC), but patients also come from other military communities in the Monterey area, including Ord Military Community, the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), the Navy's Fleet Numerical Meteorology and Oceanography Center and the Monterey Coast Guard Station.
"The Presidio Health Clinic renovation began in July 2008 and was accomplished in three phases," said Capt. Robert Weber, CalMed's executive officer. Weber explained that the clinic remained in operation while renovators were at work in closed-off sections of the building. A temporary structure attached to the clinic's street entrance provided added rooms.
Weber said work on the clinic's pharmacy and medical records area was the first phase of the renovation, which was completed in December 2009. Improvements to the clinic's laboratory and radiology sections were accomplished in the second phase, completed in April 2010. The third and final phase dealt with staff offices and examination and treatment rooms.
An aim of the renovation was to reconfigure the clinic's interior to make optimum use of space. Additional improvements to the building included the removal of lead-based paint and asbestos, the installation of new plumbing and electrical wiring, adding new wall and ceiling finishes and replacing windows and doors to meet current force protection standards. The clinic also has acquired new technology, including new x-ray equipment, to replace that which had been in use. New furniture is also in place.
The work of renovating the Health Clinic got under way soon after dental offices formerly housed in the building were moved next door. The Presidio's separate Dental Clinic, located a few steps from the Health Clinic, was built at a cost of $6 million and opened in June 2008.
"By moving dental services into a separate clinic the Health Clinic gained about 8,000 square feet," Weber said. He said renovation planners made the most of that development and also found ways to build on another 1,000 square feet.
At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Col. Daniel H. Jimenez, CalMed's Commander, said growing student populations at both DLIFLC and NPS had begun to test the limits of the Health Clinic's capabilities, even as more space was being created by the renovators. As a result, he said, pediatric care once provided at the Health Clinic was moved to a medical offices building at 880 Cass Street, Monterey. Weber said the pediatric facility is a leased suite of about 1,000 square feet that is staffed by contracted employees. Long-term plans are to create a more permanent center for pediatric care at a Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs medical clinic planned at former Fort Ord.
The contract to renovate the Presidio's Health Clinic was managed by the Mobile, Ala., District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The prime contractor was Global Engineering and Construction of Renton, Wash.
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