The 63,000-square-foot hospital has been under construction since May 2015 and was originally planned to open the following May. However, bad weather and multiple construction delays pushed the opening date to December, then January, then February and then mid-June, according to the report. Ms. Razo has appealed to state officials and the construction company to push the opening date earlier. Leaders thought it could open the doors to patients May 12, then realized more work was yet to be done.
The district plans to begin a mediation and arbitration process to recover an estimated $3.1 million in revenue lost by delaying the opening of the hospital by over a year.
After the latest week of reconstruction, cleaning and other tasks to address “nonconforming” work, Ms. Razo told the Curry Coastal Pilot she expects the hospital to open May 25.
Nonconforming work, or elements of the newly constructed hospital that didn’t comply with state building codes, included walls that weren’t thick enough and the seclusion room gate that was deemed “not to be really safe” and required a replacement, according to the report.
“It will come down to the very last minute,” said Ms. Razo, according to the report. “We have state requirements; a lot of things that have to fall into place. We’re on a really short leash right now.”
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