California Construction News staff writer
Construction of Kedren Community Health Center, Inc.’s Children’s Village has reached a major milestone with the steel topping out of the project’s inpatient building, about one year after work began on the facility.
McCarthy Building Companies, trade partners and Kedren staff marked the placement of the final steel beam last week, signalling structural completion of the inpatient component of the 110,000-square-foot development.
The milestone reflects steady progress on what project leaders describe as a coordinated construction effort aimed at delivering a comprehensive mental health care facility for children and youth in South Los Angeles.
“This is a groundbreaking project for our community,” said Gregory Polk, CEO of Kedren Health. “We aim to provide a one-stop, holistic medical home for children—a place where physical and mental health services are integrated to offer comprehensive support and healing.”
Kedren’s Children’s Village is being developed as what the organization describes as the first facility of its kind in the United States, offering a full mental health continuum of care for children and youth within a single site.
“Topping out is always a big moment but it really reflects the coordination, planning, and execution behind the scenes to get there,” DEYCO Construction wrote on social media. “Projects like this are a great reminder of what strong collaboration between GC and trade partners can accomplish.”
The project is fully funded through a combination of a Round 4 Behavioral Health Continuum Infrastructure Program grant and the Mental Health Oversight and Accountability Innovation Grant, totalling $145 million.
Once complete, the facility will expand inpatient and outpatient capacity and add several new services. These include a 12-bed mental health crisis stabilization centre, an eight-bed crisis residential treatment program, and an eight-bed subacute unit. The inpatient unit will increase to 24 beds, up from a previous capacity of 17.
Project plans also include an onsite pharmacy intended to streamline medication access and improve coordination between providers and patients.
A 24-unit transitional housing site is also part of the development, intended for Kedren clients experiencing homelessness. The housing component is designed to reduce transportation barriers and improve access to appointments and continuity of care.
Construction continues on the broader campus as the project moves toward completion, with additional structural and interior work remaining following the inpatient building’s topping out milestone.
