Jacobs to Oversee Building of Medical Center

Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. said it was hired to oversee construction of the new County-USC Medical Center, adjacent to the current facility. Pasadena-based Jacobs said its CRSS Constructors unit received a contract for $47 million. The new hospital, whose final bed count hasn’t been determined and whose costs were set in the range of $496 million to $598 million, is expected to open in 2006. Services to patients at the existing hospital shouldn’t be affected during construction. Separately, Jacobs, an international construction and engineering concern, reported fiscal third-quarter net income of $13.9 million, or 53 cents per diluted share, compared with net income of $12 million, or 46 cents, in the year-ago quarter. Jacobs shares rose 63 cents to close at $31.44 on the NYSE.