U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Center

Delivering a fast-track new Health Care Center in eastern North Carolina that provides comprehensive care to 20,000 Veterans for the Department of Veterans Affairs

The existing U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs outpatient clinic provided primary care services for Veterans in eastern North Carolina. To access comprehensive care, Veterans had to travel several hours for services beyond primary care.

The VA elected to use a public-private partnership delivery to finance, design, build, own, and manage a new VA Health Care Center within 24 months. Gilbane was the selected team coordinating financing and managing the design and construction. The project includes a 20-year leaseback agreement with the VA. The team was responsible for adhering to all federal government security requirements for the project even though it was privately funded.

The state-of-the-art Health Care Center includes 150,000 SF of healthcare space that supports a full range of specialty and ancillary services. In addition to primary care and mental health treatment, the new Center offers a much broader scope of services including women’s health, audiology, cardiology, orthopedics, radiology, pharmacy, vision, dental, and other specialty care services. It has 475 parking spaces, including ample parking for veterans with disabilities.

The new Health Care Center is about seven times the size of the VA outpatient clinic it replaced, serving 20,000 area Veterans, more than double the number served by the previous facility.

Gilbane’s financial stability removed financing from the critical path and allowed the project to get started immediately, thereby ensuring delivery within the required 24 months of award. Gilbane also used a unique approach regarding permits by separating core and shell from tenant improvement, allowing mobilization of construction, within four months of lease award, which ensured on-time delivery of the facility.

The Health Care Center was completed on time, under budget, and to a new standard of completeness at turnover. When the VA performed final inspections, they were overwhelmed by the level of completion and that the Center could be utilized as intended at Occupancy – as this is not typically their experience.

Project Overview

  • Public-private partnership delivery with a 20-year lease-back agreement with the VA)
  • Design-build-finance-operate-maintain (DBFOM) model
  • Having earned LEED Silver certification, sustainability was incorporated into the overall design, specification, and construction to improve the total building environment and building performance while respecting the total project budget.
  • Team: Gilbane Development Company as the developer; Gilbane Building Company as the design-builder; and BBH Design as the architect of record

“We are so pleased with the on-time completion of the Greenville VA Health Care Center project. This intelligently-designed, state-of-art facility will enhance our mission to honor America’s Veterans by providing exceptional health care that is personalized, proactive, and patient-centered.”

Sara Haigh
Former Associate Director
Durham VA Medical Director

Quick Stats

  • Architect:
    • BBH Design and Array Architects
  • Size: 150,00 SF
  • Surface Parking: 475
  • Date Completed: October 2013
  • Awards:
    • Engineering News-Record (ENR) Southeast, Merit Award
    • Gilbane’s Iver Johnson Builders of the Year Award Recipient
    • US Green Building Council LEED Certified® / LEED Silver®

20,000

area veterans

24

months on-time completion

20

year leaseback agreement

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