St. Louis (Sept, 2011) - Hospital officials, dignitaries, HBE employees and members of the community gathered Wednesday, September 14, 2011 to celebrate a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Community Memorial Hospital facility in Ventura, CA.

"This is the single most important thing to happen in my two years as mayor," Ventura Mayor told the crowd, adding the new hospital will boost the city's economy and turn midtown into a "second downtown."

The six-story, 325,000 square foot Hospital will be built next to the current hospital at 147 N. Brent St., and is scheduled to open in 2015. It will have 250 private rooms, comfortable space for families and a healing garden on the grounds. According to Gary Wilde, President and CEO of CMHS, “HBE’s design itself is exceptional.  One of our vision statements is for our hospital to be a ‘community treasure’ and the architectural appeal of the new building has won the hearts of the entire community.”

The new CMH, which meets seismic demands, also will have a larger Emergency Room and greater imaging capability than the present hospital. It also will have additional Heart Catheterization Labs, expanded Intensive Care and Cardiac Care Recovery Units, and a larger Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The hospital's 10 surgical theaters will have leading-edge medical technology.

"We will provide state-of-the-art care in a facility that is truly state-of-the-art," said Mr. Wilde. “The new hospital will meet the needs of the community for the next 50 years and will feature environmentally friendly "green" components such as triple-paneled glass windows that will reduce heating and air-conditioning costs. HBE’s design-build approach is saving us almost $100 million and making it possible for us to build a project that would otherwise be unaffordable.”

ABOUT HBE: 

HBE Corporation is the nation’s leading designer and builder of hospitals, including replacement hospitals and hospital renovations and additions.  The company has designed and built more than 1,100 hospitals in 49 states, and is ranked as the number one hospital design-build firm in the United States.  Headquartered in St. Louis, HBE is one of the largest privately held companies in the Midwest with a staff of 400 people including architects, engineers and construction professionals.