LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- An $840 million contract was awarded to Walsh-Turner Joint Venture II to build Louisville's new veterans hospital, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced Tuesday.
The Army Corps and Department of Veterans Affairs will build the new 104-bed, full-service hospital on a 34-acre field at the southeast corner of Interstate 264 and U.S. 42 in east Louisville. The new facility will replace the existing Robley Rex VA Medical Center near Mellwood Avenue and River Road.
“We are excited to reach this significant milestone in the project and look forward to breaking ground,” Stephen D. Black, medical center director of the Robley Rex VA Medical Center, said in a news release. "We are pleased to work alongside the USACE and Walsh Turner Joint Venture II to bring this world-class health care facility into reality for our Nation’s heroes. I want to recognize the support of our strong community partnerships and thank everyone who advocated to make this facility happen, especially our Veteran community in the Kentuckiana area.”
Walsh Construction is familiar to Louisville as it built the new downtown Ohio River bridge and played a role in the construction of the east end bridge.
The hospital will be more than 910,000 square feet in addition to parking structures and 42,205-square-foot central utility plant. It will include a Women's Health Clinic with 4 Patient Aligned Care Teams as well as all "modern patient-centered care concepts to provide the best possible care for Veterans."
“The announcement of today’s contract award is a testament to the strong partnership between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of Veterans Affairs and brings us one step closer to delivering this much-anticipated state-of-the-art medical facility,” Col. Eric Crispino, Louisville district commander of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said in a news release. “We are proud to play a role in this project and remain committed to delivering the new Louisville VA Medical Center in a timely and cost-effective manner to serve our local Kentuckiana Veterans.”
In 2018, the city of Crossgate in east Louisville filed a federal lawsuit to try to stop the project. In March 2021, the VA said the court issued a judgement in its favor to allow it to start construction on the new facility. Crews will break ground this fall, and construction is expected to be complete in 2025.
A spokesperson for the VA did not respond to questions regarding what will happen to the current VA medical center on Zorn Avenue.
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