(photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist (AW) Paul DeLaughter) Contractors started minor jobs this week in front of Bethesda’s Bldg. 1 tower in preparation of the major construction projects planned for the hospital.

The meeting was the first of what will now be a weekly event in which supervisors are directed to disseminate information to junior staff members, said National Naval Medical Center Deputy Commander Capt. Michael Malanoski.

David ‘‘Ollie” Olivera, Bethesda’s Base Realignment and Closure program manager, said the weekly meetings are going to the point and focus only on timely issues relevant to the state of construction.

‘‘We have been saying ‘it’s going to come, it’s going to come’ well ... it has arrived,” Malanoski said. ‘‘It’s really important that we push what we know to our people because if they don’t know what is going on they can’t focus on their work. There are multiple ways we are going to try and communicate information — this is just one of them.”

Jeff Miller, Bethesda’s transportation program manager, said sections of the campus will obviously be closed when construction starts. But, he said, contractors are going to fence off the sections in phases.

The first phase, or Yellow phase as it is known, has already started in front of Bldg. 1. And June 1 is the estimated time phase two, or Red phase, is scheduled to start. Specifics of each phase will be discussed in the weeks prior to their beginning, he said.

Issues covered this week were safety, traffic and parking.

Olivera said the fire marshall has outlined new emergency escape routes for staff members working in Bldg. 1. And, as construction continues throughout the campus, he said, it’s important everyone knows the evacuation routes — for themselves and for their patients.

‘‘We have people who have been coming to this [hospital] for years and years,” Olivera said. ‘‘They know one door to get in and one door to get out. We’re really about to upset their apple cart.”

Olivera said construction companies are going to install a temporary gate just north of Bethesda’s South Gate. This, he said, will help to alleviate traffic congestion as construction vehicles enter the campus.

Construction traffic, both vehicle and pedestrian, will be primarily inside restricted construction areas, Olivera said.

Miller said parking will be made available as readily as possible. Parking has already been impacted with the closing of F-Lot. He said spaces have been made available for F-Lot users in the B-Lot staff garage.

Carpooling spaces have been moved to the upper levels of the staff garage to accommodate the shifting of F-Lot.

Malanoski said people need to understand it will take a period of time to get the new processes in place.

‘‘This is not what it is going to be like for the next three years and if anyone sees something that isn’t working they need to talk to their chain of command,” Malanoski said. ‘‘We will work it out and make it better.”

We will do what we can to minimize the effects of construction and transitioning on our people and how they have to deal with it, he said.

‘‘The important thing is that the focus is on patient care and operational support that is our mission,” Malanoski said.