The project is expected to cost approximately $4.5 million. It is one of the improvements that LifePoint Hospitals, Inc. agreed to make as a condition of its purchase of the Medical Center last year.

"All Danville subcontractors who bid on jobs for the project were selected," reports Jess Judy, the LifePoint executive responsible for Danville Regional. "We anticipate that new jobs and additional purchase of materials will result from our selection of these subcontractors. This will give the Danville area economy a nice boost."

In addition, Virginia subcontractors were selected in eight of the 12 categories of work, meaning that $3.15 million, or more than 70% of the total cost of the project, will be spent in Virginia.

Danville area subcontractors selected are:

• Piedmont Glass of Danville, glass, glazing & automatic entrances


• J. W. Squire Co. of Danville, tile, resilient flooring & carpeting


• Riverview Plumbing & Heating of Hurt, mechanical and plumbing


• Wise-Hundley Electric Company of Danville, electrical systems

The general contractor is Skanska USA Building, Inc., the successor to Beers Contraction. Beers was the contractor for the Wyatt Tower, which opened in l997. Skanska is a large contractor with extensive hospital construction experience.

Construction on the project will begin within the next two weeks. It involves building out the 5th floor for patient use. Construction is expected to take nine months.

Danville Regional is the leading medical center in the Dan River Region of Virginia and North Carolina, providing open-heart surgery and advanced cancer treatment. The Medical Center employs approximately 1,500 people and has approximately 140 physicians on its medical staff.