University of Connecticut Health Center

The University of Connecticut Health Center is a vibrant organization composed of the School of Medicine, School of Dental Medicine, John Dempsey Hospital, the UConn Medical Group, UConn Health Partners and University Dentists. Founded in 1961, the Health Center pursues a mission of providing outstanding health care education in an environment of exemplary patient care, research and public service. The Health Center’s campus is situated on 162 acres of wooded hilltop in the beautiful, historic community of Farmington. From this vantage point, the skyline of Hartford, the capital of Connecticut, can be seen about eight miles to the east.

Construction of the Health Center’s main campus began in 1966. The main complex occupies a prominent hilltop overlooking an interstate highway (I-84). This massive, circular building originally contained about 1.2 million square feet, seven miles of corridors, and 2,000 rooms. Its first major addition, the Andrew J. Canzonetti, M.D. Building, was dedicated in 1994. It added 94,000 square feet next to John Dempsey Hospital. The Health Center’s Academic Research Building was opened in 1999. The impressive 11-story structure provides 170,000 square feet of state-of-the-art laboratory space.  All told, the Health Center campus consists of buildings totaling over 2 million square feet.

In preparation for the new wave of expansions upgrades to the telecommunications infrastructure were required. New conduit ductbanks with fiber optic trunk lines were installed from the demarcation point at the edge of the campus to the existing telephone Main Distribution Frame. Provisions were made for expansions of this new backbone to the Musculoskeletal Research and Outpatient Surgery Buildings. This $200,000 site utility project was let as a prime electrical contract with Native Sons Ltd performing not only the traditional electrical and low-voltage tasks but also performing as general contractor, subcontracting with and coordinating the excavation, erosion and sediment control, turf establishment, masonry, paving, site utility and plumbing portions of the work. The project was challenged by weather restraints, having been let late in the fall, and by a lack of accurate information on the existing utilities, some of which dated back to the original 1960’s construction. Despite these obstacles, the work was completed on schedule and ahead of the required new building tie-in schedules.