Cambridge hospital project is two years late
No ‘viable plan’ from contractor regarding completion date, CEO says
The lights are on, the heat is on, but nobody’s home in the new wing at Cambridge Memorial Hospital and that isn’t likely to change any time soon.
The contractor had informed that hospital that it would be handing over the keys to the new wing Dec. 3, but little work has been done to complete work on the new wing in the last few months.
As of Friday, the project is officially two years behind its initially announced completion date.
In his report to the board Wednesday, hospital president and CEO Patrick Gaskin said: “As of Nov. 20, we have not received a viable plan outlining how the contractor will handle the remaining work and address the building’s deficiencies. There has also not been any substantial work done to the new wing. We firmly believe the Dec. 3 handover will not be met.”
Board member Tom Dean, who sits on the capital project subcommittee, told Wednesday’s board meeting that while the building looks to be completed from the outside, they can’t move in until all the work is done.
“You can’t move into the building until everything has been taken care of. You can’t paint around patients or fix windows or add caulking while providing critical care,” he said.
Dean said that over the last two months there have been minimal construction trades on site and there is a large list of deficiencies that still need to be corrected.
The one bright spot is that one subtrade is on site and is completing work on the overhead booms that will suspend equipment off the floors in the new wing’s operating rooms. That work will be done by early next month.
Regarding scheduling, Dean said, “It’s very interesting to note that we received no project update letters for October or November confirming or pushing out the completion date from the third of December. We received no further clarifications or explanations why they are not communicating with us. We do know this date will not be met, based on the work remaining.”
Following Wednesday’s board meeting, Gaskin said the hospital has been working closely with Infrastructure Ontario, the provincial agency overseeing the project.
“They have been very supportive of us, but this is now the most delayed hospital project in the province.”
On Friday, Cambridge Memorial Hospital will be undertaking a media blitz using both social and traditional media outlets to explain its situation to the public.
“We thought it would be really timely that we push an open letter out to the community,” Gaskin explained to the board.
He also showed the board a video trailer promoting the letter that will be going up on Facebook to direct people to the hospital’s website. In the video Gaskin states: “The most important thing I want you to know is that we have been working diligently behind the scenes, exercising everything we can do to move this project forward. These services are needed for the community. You’ve invested in this. You’ve fundraised for it and we need to deliver this project.”
The video concluded with Gaskin telling the audience: “We are at a time where we can take some decisive action and we want you to know we will do that. So, read the letter. If you have questions reach out to me by email or phone and I’m happy to answer them.”
To give some indication of how work is going, Dean, in his report to the board in September, said no significant work had been done on the $187-million project since June. Currently the date to complete the new wing and the renovations to other parts of the hospital is May 2021, but that was with the understanding the new wing would be handed over on Dec. 3.
Meanwhile, Gaskin said the cost of the project has not increased as the price was set at the beginning of the contract and contractor would not be paid until the job is completed.