MARQUETTE - As of mid-November, there was no snow on the ground here and temperatures were in the mid-40s. It has been very good weather for building one of the U.P.'s largest ongoing projects, a new emergency department and trauma center at Marquette General Hospital.

"That's one of the pleasant surprises; we don't have a foot of snow on the ground," said Fred Gagnier, project manager for prime contractor Devere Construction. "We're trying to get 90,000 yards of concrete poured and then get the building enclosed before the weather hits. We're pushing the envelope, but we've been fortunate so far."

Devere, its subcontractors and the building trades are erecting a 60,000 square-foot addition, which will house a new 20,000-square-foot emergency department and trauma center, and 30,000 square-feet of space for future expansion and outpatient services. The $11.4 million addition is going up west of the hospital's existing eight-story patient building.

The addition will include 22 private and emergency trauma treatment rooms, a 24-hour walk-in clinic and monitored observation beds. The project started in July and is expected to wrap up in June 2005.

Marquette General Hospital CEO Bill Nemacheck said the new ED/Trauma Center will be a welcome addition to the Marquette campus.

"We're thrilled to be moving forward on this project," Nemacheck said. "The new ED/Trauma Center will provide a larger, more convenient facility for patients and provide faster service with greater privacy.

"One-third of our inpatients come through the emergency department, and it's essential to improve and enlarge the facility," Nemacheck added. "Care processes and technologies have changed significantly since the current facility was built, and we've seen substantial increases in the numbers of patients and severity of their injuries and illnesses."

The project is a significant first step in the development of the Upper Peninsula's only Level II Trauma Center. MGHS is currently seeking Level II Trauma Center status, the highest attainable ranking for a non-university-affiliated emergency center.

The existing Emergency Department space will tentatively be renovated and converted into a new MRI suite, but the hospital has not established a timetable for that part of the project.

Approximately 30 construction workers are on the projects - "and they're working hard, they're very good workers," Gagnier said. 

THE BUILDING TRADES are building a 60,000-square-foot addition at Marquette General Hospital, the largest health-care provider in the Upper Peninsula.

IBEW MEMBERS Nick Gregorich, front, and Jim McClelland of Local 1070 and JP Electric install conduit at Marquette General Hospital expansion project.