Cambridge hospital work far behind as construction firm has financial woes
Work likely to resume soon, but completion now set for 2021, hospital board told
The handover date for the new wing at Cambridge Memorial Hospital is set for Dec. 3, but hospital officials are doubtful its construction company will meet that deadline.
“We believe this Dec. 3 interim completion date will not be met based on the work to date and the remaining work to be done,” Tom Dean, a member of the capital project subcommittee, told the hospital’s October board meeting onWednesday night.
Dean prefaced his remarks by saying that “no significant work has been completed by (the contractor) on the project (since June).”
“There have been efforts to correct deficiencies, but no significant milestones reached over the last two to three months,” he said.
While hospital officials have completed a deficiency list of work on the project that needs to be corrected, Dean said, “there seems to be minimal trades on site to correct them.”
The setback of the handover date to Dec. 3 has created its own milestone for the project.
“It’s now two years past the original date of the 30th of November 2016,” Dean said noting the substantial completion date is now pushed out to May of 2021.
As a result of the delays the hospital’s capital project subcommittee has “serious concerns about (the contractor’s) focus the completion of Phase 2 of this project,” he said.
Since the subcommittee’s September meeting there have been other developments, hospital president and CEO Patrick Gaskin told the board.
Zurich Insurance Canada, the bonding agent Bondfield Construction Company Ltd., has become involved in the Cambridge hospital project as well as other company projects.
Bondfield is involved in about a dozen public sector projects across Ontario — including Cambridge Memorial Hospital — which are either months behind schedule or in limbo as the company struggles to pay its subcontractors or complete its projects.
“At this point Zurich is assessing a number of the projects, including ours, to really understand the status of each of the projects. We have been in active discussions with Zurich’s representatives,” Gaskin said.
“Once the assessment is complete hospital officials expect Zurich will present a plan with a go forward strategy,” Gaskin said.
“In the meantime, what we are being told is that they are working to ensure the subcontractors are being paid and as such are able to return to work so we can get this project done,” he said. “We see this as a hopeful sign, that we are actually going to be able to see more workers on the site and actually get to the important milestone of interim completion.”
In addition, Gaskin told the board that Bondfield Construction replaced its president this week.
Gaskin concluded his report stating that while there is no timeline for the completion of the assessment being undertaken by Zurich Insurance, workers are being paid and have started to return to the site.
Ironically, despite the problems with completing the job, Cambridge Memorial Hospital has been shortlisted for an award at this year’s World Architecture Festival and Awards being held in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Nov. 28 to 30. The hospital is competing in the category of Health — Future Projects.