Photo courtesy of Jonathan Hornak, Cornerstone General Contractors, Inc.

laska’s healthcare system took a positive step forward when Medline Industries, Inc. opened a new facility in South Anchorage last August.

As one of the nation’s largest distributors of medical supplies, Medline Industries tripled the space it was leasing in Anchorage when Cornerstone General Contractors completed a new 150,000-square-foot facility on King Street. The new distribution center features thirty-two loading bays, administration offices, two mezzanines, and state-of-the-art custom racking with automated stock-picking capabilities.

“We wanted to build a distribution center in Alaska that would not only be useful for today but also for the future as well,” says Medline Public Affairs Director Jesse Greenberg. “This is a medical-grade distribution center. There’s a lot of space and a lot of technology in there. We are very proud of the systems we have built.”

Photo courtesy of Chris Arend Photography

At 150,000 square feet, the distribution center dwarfs the 30,000-square-foot warehouse Medline had been leasing in Anchorage. This new facility is still one of the smallest Medline operates in the United States. The Illinois-based company runs distribution centers in the Lower 48 that are as small as 700,000 and as large as 1.4 million square feet. It handles 550,000 unique medical products and manufactures 80,000 individual products.

From the furniture and fixtures used in hospitals to personal protective equipment, hand sanitizer, and advanced technology that healthcare providers need to operate, Medline invests in warehouse space that can handle a wide range of medical devices. Hospitals and nursing care facilities are the majority of Medline’s customer base, says Greenberg, but the company also sells to surgery centers, hospices, and physician offices.

“We serve the whole continuum of care in healthcare delivery,” says Greenberg.

“It was a competitive qualifications and price bid between Cornerstone and one other general contractor,” says Cornerstone Business Development and Marketing Manager Pearl-Grace Pantaleone. “We did business development six months before winning the project.”

Despite logistical complications from COVID-19 and Alaska wildfires, Cornerstone was able to finish the $28 million distribution center two months early, saving Medline $1.5 million and marking the first time a Medline warehouse has been finished early and under budget.

Photo courtesy of Chris Arend Photography

Photo courtesy of Chris Arend Photography

Pantaleone, who crafted the award entry form, says Cornerstone deserved the award because “it represents the best kind of collaboration and results from a professionally planned and designed project in Alaska in 2019-20.”

“Cornerstone was able to safely complete the entire project under budget and two months early despite beginning construction during the adverse air quality resulting from the 2019 Alaskan wildfires and completing the project in the midst of the 2020 COVID-19 global pandemic,” says Pantaleone.

“In the Lower 48, we use a contractor who we are comfortable with to facilitate our facility expansions,” says Greenberg. “But given the uniqueness of Alaska’s location and the short construction season, we felt it was important for a local contractor to lead this project.

“Cornerstone did a great job. They know the local environment very well.”

Cornerstone worked with 37 different subcontractors, including GMC Contracting Inc., which did the initial heavy lifting to get the foundation ready for construction.

The site had been cleared and filled decades ago and had been used recently as a disposal site for peat and other civil construction debris from other projects, says GMC Contracting Vice President Frank Chandler.

A mountain of unusable peat, gravel, concrete pieces, and rocks remained on the site; GMC removed about 60,000 cubic yards of stockpiled peat and other debris. Once the peat was removed, GMC excavated and replaced about seven more feet of fill material to expose the native silts and gravels under the building site. Chandler says this was to ensure that there were no pockets of deleterious material buried under the building. Other work included water, sewer, and five-foot high retaining walls along the north and south property lines.

Photo courtesy of Pearl-Grace Pantaleone, Cornerstone General Contractors, Inc.

To improve the quality of the warehouse and speed up the construction process, Cornerstone manufactured more than 100 pre-cast concrete panels (between 15,000 and 20,000 square feet) for the foundational walls. Because these panels were cured offsite in a controlled environment, the finished product both looks better and lasts longer.

Medline construction standards required a meticulous level of finish and flatness on the 4,500 yards of concrete that was poured onto the foundation floor slab. Medline also requires the contractor to warranty all concrete work against any buckling or cracking for 10 years.

“Medline inspectors and construction managers were extremely impressed with the quality of Cornerstone’s concrete work and all slabs within the building exceeded Medline’s specifications in every respect,” says Pantaleone.

“These are jobs with full healthcare and dental benefits, retirement matching program, and eligibility for education reimbursement,” says Greenberg. “This is the type of job where you can raise a family, send a kid to college, and own a home.”

It’s also the type of job that makes a difference in the community. Medline personnel, along with many others in Alaska, work to provide Alaska with COVID-19 testing supplies, equipment, and medical supplies necessary for basic healthcare, elective surgeries, procedures, and preventative care services.

“This is not an average warehouse facility,” says Pantaleone. “It was designed and built to make a difference and has already had a significant impact in Alaska, keeping up with the demands of ordering, handling, and delivering medical supplies and equipment to the front lines during this pandemic.”