Photo By Stephen Baack | U.S. Army Corps of Engineers South Pacific Division Regional Business Director Brian...... read more read more
SAN DIEGO — Senior leaders with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Department of Veterans Affairs met Aug. 7 at the Jennifer Moreno Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center campus to review progress on the nearly complete Spinal Cord Injury/Community Living Center.
Los Angeles District Commander Col. Andrew Baker joined South Pacific Division Business Director Brian Kamisato Aug. 7 to check in with the team on the ground, which included USACE and DVA Office of Construction and Facilities Management teammates, the DVA San Diego Healthcare System and leaders from contracting partners Walsh and Archer-Western.
Meeting and tour attendees discussed the final stretch of construction on the 197,000-square-foot facility as they knock down the final targets and solve problems together, all while reaffirming the purpose and shared goal behind the work: delivering for veterans.
“I’m most interested in ensuring we keep a common perspective between USACE, the contractor, Department of Veterans Affairs’ Construction and Facilities Management and the medical center on all of this,” Baker said. “I think this was a great opportunity to do that with all the players and synchronize on the work and any challenges ahead.”
USACE’s team consists of the LA District, which is leading the effort; the Albuquerque District, which is providing engineering support; the U.S. Army Engineering and Support Center, Huntsville, and its Medical Center of Expertise; and the Program Executive Office at the South Pacific Division, which provides guidance and standardization for Department of Veterans Affairs’ projects.
This project, a collaboration between USACE and the DVA Office Construction and Facilities Management, is entering its home stretch, thanks to strong partnership.
“Projects like this demand strong teamwork and communication, and it’s important we all understand the perspectives of one another,” Kamisato said. “We must communicate transparently and often.”
The nearly complete Spinal Cord Injury/Community Living Center, which is scheduled to open its doors to veterans later this year, will provide care to veterans and active-duty personnel with spinal cord injuries and disorders, who live in the San Diego and Imperial counties in California, and in Arizona and southern Nevada.
Additionally, part of the larger project is the completed and fully operational seven-level parking structure that can accommodate more than 900 vehicles. The parking structure officially opened in September 2023.
The new SCI/CLC facility, which is replacing the current building at the campus, is a 197,000-square-foot, six-level, standalone structure. The current center is one of 25 spinal cord injury and disorder facilities at VA centers throughout the U.S. Each center has teams of experienced medical professionals trained to deal with the unique challenges that affect those with spinal cord injuries and disorders.
In addition to the new facility and its services, the new space will allow decompression of the main hospital. Follow-on projects will facilitate conversion of multi-patient rooms to single beds, and conversion of the existing SCI unit will support ambulatory care.
“We’re going to deliver this as a team,” Kamisato said. “This is not only a USACE project; this is everyone’s project. I just think about the day when patients are starting to be seen in this new facility. I keep my eye on that because that’s really what we’re doing here.”
| Date Taken: | 08.13.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 08.13.2025 13:50 |
| Story ID: | 545518 |
| Location: | SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 65 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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