Baby Sawlani has an unusual link with Skanska and Costain. She arrived last week ahead of schedule in the new Birth Centre at Kings College Hospital, which Skanska/Costain had just completed - ahead of schedule.
The Birth Centre is part of the first phase of the £75m King's College Hospital PFI redevelopment scheme which Skanska in joint venture with Costain has handed over - one month ahead of programme.
This phase, at one of London's major teaching hospitals, involved the design and construction of a new 23,000-sq. metre; seven-storey clinical building which can accommodate 1,500 people at any one time.
Commenting, Malcolm Lowe-Lauri, chief executive at King's College Hospital said "This is a very exciting time for King's. The Golden Jubilee Wing is the culmination of an enormous amount of hard work and dedication. It shows how the Trust's vision for the future is being realised. We very much look forward to continuing to deliver excellent patient care within the local community, nationally and internationally".
The Golden Jubilee Wing, houses over 20 medical services, including a Children Nationwide Neonatal Unit, Womens Outpatients and Obstetric Departments, Medical and Gynaecology wards, plus a number of Outpatient Departments including Cardiac, Radiology, Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy suites.
The construction team has been working closely with the hospital to enable services from existing buildings to be transferred ahead of programme. Skanska and Costain will now start work on phase two, the refurbishment of six floors of an existing ten-storey building which will house additional Neuroscience services and general medical wards.
When the project is complete in 2004 Kings College Hospital's increased capacity will enable an additional 6,000 inpatients and 15,000 outpatients per year to receive treatment.
Commenting on behalf of the Concession Company, David Pokora, Chief Executive of HpC said "The early handover of the new Golden Jubilee Wing is a tremendous achievement and a clear demonstration of the true partnership working between the Public and Private sectors. The Trust has been able to achieve the transfer of patients into the new wing two months ahead of schedule through Costain/Skanska's early completion and its coordination of hospital and construction commissioning activities over the last month of construction."