New Hospital ‘Remains On Budget’
Speaking in the House of Assembly yesterday [Nov.25] Minister of Health Zane Desilva provided an update on the building of the the new hospital, and said the project remains on budget and they they “expect to open the doors of the new hospital at the end of March 2014.”
The Minister said 40,000 cubic yards of rock has been excavated which has been recycled for use in the construction sector, over 5,000 cubic yards of concrete have been poured, the water tank is now complete and work on the ground floor slab is now commencing.
Minister Desilva said, “I rise this morning to update the public and the Members of this Honorable House on the progress of the construction of the new hospital facility.
“As the Honorable Members are most likely aware, this is Bermuda’s biggest ever construction project and is Bermuda’s first ever Public-Private Partnership or PPP as it is more often referred to.
“It gives me great pleasure to say that we remain on budget and that we still fully expect to open the doors of the new hospital at the end of March 2014.
Artist’s rendering of the main entrance of the planned hospital:
Minister Desilva said,”As a reminder, because I know people are always concerned about the potential for costly overruns and delays in construction projects – especially in these economically challenging times – that any potential delays will hit the pocket of the private partner and not the Bermuda Hospitals Board (BHB) or the Bermuda taxpayer.
“The cost of the project is already locked in. The contract is signed. This is a major benefit of a PPP project. It provides cost security for us and at the same time also provides a major incentive for Paget Health Services, our private partner, to ensure that the project is completed on time.”
“As Honorable Members will remember from the 2008 Johns Hopkins Medicine International Review, Bermuda needs this facility as it requires 50% more clinical space so that it can meet the current and long term healthcare needs of our community.
“These additional facilities will enable us to deliver services to an internationally accepted standard of care for the next 20 to 30 years.
“I am therefore very pleased to be able to report that much progress has been made. Anyone who drove past the site over the past weekend will have noticed that a major concrete pour was taking place!
“Mr. Speaker, during one day, more than 14,850 cubic feet of concrete was poured at the site. This is the largest one day concrete pour in the history of construction in Bermuda. The base of the new hospital will contain nearly 90 tons of galvanized steel reinforcement alone.
“The concrete pour last weekend was the foundation for a reinforced concrete stairwell whose 12″ thick walls will provide lateral stability for the new building.
“This will ensure that the new building can withstand hurricane force winds and seismic forces associated with earthquake events.
“The aggregate for the high strength concrete being used in the building is imported from the Bahamas and the concrete is produced locally by SAL.
“Last weekend about 110 loads of concrete had to be delivered from SAL’s two Batching Plants and in all, this single concrete pour took about 14 hours to complete.
Artist’s rendering of an aerial view of the planned hospital:
“Prior to this, the largest previous concrete pour on the island took place at BELCO and this required approximately 12,150 cubic feet of concrete.
“Mr. Speaker, I would like to congratulate the Hospital and Paget Health Services on the successful completion of this concrete pour.
“I would also like to thank the Hospital’s neighbors who are extremely understanding of the work that is going on right at their doorsteps!”
“It is exciting that this project is no longer just a hole in the ground! The structure of the new hospital is now beginning to take shape but to get to this position a ‘bulk’ excavation some 35 feet deep had to be completed.
“Some 40,000 cubic yards of rock has been excavated which has been recycled for use in the construction sector. In total, over 5,000 cubic yards of concrete have been poured and this figure will increase by 2,000 cubic yards per month until the foundations for the new hospital are complete.
“The water tank is now complete and work on the ground floor slab is now commencing. Mr Speaker, people walking along Point Finger Road will have noticed that a footpath has been constructed to improve the safety for pedestrians during the construction period.
“Also, the work that can be seen on the access road through the Botanical Gardens is for the laying of large diameter abstraction well pipework. This will essentially draw sea water from two underwater lenses to cool the new facility.”
Video of the beginning of the demolition of the old hospital earlier this year:
“The project has been supported by a large number of local organizations and people. Orders placed so far for construction work exceeds $110 million of which $100 million has been with Bermudian businesses,” said the Health Minister.
“In addition, a further $21 million of spending associated with this project has already taken place in the local economy and on the site over 60% of the workforce are Bermudians or spouses of Bermudians.
“In October, the workforce averaged around 89 persons but it is anticipated that this figure will peak at about 250 as the project progresses.
“Mr. Speaker, as this work has to take place while hospital operations continue on the same site, infection control is a major issue.
“The BHB have organized specialist training for local companies, and to date over 420 individuals have undertaken site induction training in Health & Safety/Infection Control. Twenty-one infection control permits have been issued.
“On the design side, a temporary facility has been constructed on site which houses mock-ups of a trauma room, a patient bedroom, nurse’s station, ambulance bays and other ancillary spaces.
Minister Desilva speaking on the new hospital yesterday:
“This allows staff to ‘test’ the designs and make any minor adjustments that are deemed necessary. Additionally, and perhaps more importantly, it ensures that staff will be intimately familiar with the layouts before patients are admitted to the new hospital which will greatly assist in a smooth operational transition in 2014.
“Mr. Speaker, thank you for this opportunity to update the public and Honourable Members on this nationally important project.
“To conclude, and for those amongst us who are statistically minded, the project is about 15% complete at this time. More importantly, we remain on target for the completion of the new hospital facility at the end of March 2014,” concluded the Health Minister.
“The cost of the project is already locked in. The contract is signed.”
Bernews – have you previously reported on the contract particulars?
I agree. As far as I understand the project price cannot change. It is a PPP so Government should not have to pay anything until the building is turned over to them. They are paying a fee for 30 years for use of the facility to Paget Health. Paget Health have to fund the build with a construction loan I guess. Perhaps Bernews can clarify this.
It’s PPP. It’s doomed to financial disaster.
I might be missing something here but from artists impressions, always flattering of a project, I don’t see a parking facility besides the small lot to the south.
Is this another Airport without bathrooms scenario? I would have thought that a Bulls Head type multi story carpark would be part of the project. Hospitals are, after all, people & staff intense & space for the current hospital is woefully short. How many will be in the new KEMH on a daily basis?
It’s a fixed price contract. There is no way it can be anything other than “on budget”. Can someone explain what the hell he’s talking about, when he says it gives him ‘great pleasure’ that it’s on budget, when it can’t actually go off budget?
Despite it being a “fixed price contract” there will be additions to the contract. They are called Construction Change Directives or Change Orders…and they are inevitable, especially on a project of this scope. Attached to those changes is extra cost incurred by the additonal work which wasn’t included in the original contract. Upon issuing a change order the Contract Sum is revised accordingly.
http://www.fmozeleski.com/news.htm#CONSTRUCTION CHANGE DIRECTIVE
Don’t be fooled by the term “fixed price contract”. The fixed price is applicable to the bid drawings that the contractors priced. Not drawings or documents issued during construction for changes during the job.
Do you guys have to say something negative about every single thing???
Are you nuts – negative?? Do you understand that this is with our money it has to be paid back with?? Get real many are still questioning if we actually need this massive new Hospital!
I just cannot wait to see the “new Staff’ running around town with the hair nets on with the logo “PPP KEMH”.
@ Triangle Drifter – Why did you have to go there. An Airport renovated with no bathrooms. Just what was the UBP thinking. I guess the UBP thought the Canadian Company was the bees knees, that even after the flawed design and a leaky roof, guess what, the UBP hired them again to do WestGate.
Now ain’t that some S@*T.
I was trying to remember if it was the peeps, who designed and built CedarBridge, with no field for the children to have gym or activities.
Bring back the UBP, sorry i mean OBA ( revised edition )
You see there TTL I am not a slave to a particular political party following blindly no matter what they do. I am well aware of who was Government of the day for the airport departures area. I had plenty to say about UBP screwups.
However, the UBP never screwed up on the scale of BHC, Berkley, TCD, Dockyard docks, building so-called affordable housing when there is a housing glut, amassing a huge debt etc.etc.
Now, go back to the koolaid bar.
Triangle Drifter, you’re such a liar!! Give us the figures!!
You’re right LaVerne.
He’ll probably come up with ridiculous numbers like, I’d guess, $70million on Berkley, $15m on TCD, $40m on the Dockyard Pier and debt of over $1.2billion. Let’s wait and see.
Shaking the Head, LaVerne is probably too busy to respond today (she seems to get to it much quicker when she’s at work during the week…).
Anyway, those figures you list must be wrong, surely. Overspends like that add up to $125m+ of unbudgeted overspending. Surely there would be an enormous public outcry if any government were as stupid and incompetent as to let that happen.
And this business of $1.2bn in debt. Surely you don’t mean to suggest that we went from a historical norm of $100-150m to $1.2bn and rising, during the past 6 years? How can that be true? Wouldn’t people be outraged about it?
LaVerne, we know how you plp lot are always so open, straightforward, never try to cover things up. So put Shaking the Head right on the numbers. After all, you seem to be pretty quick to call someone a “liar” on here. Give us the facts, as only you can, as a government insider. What are the “real” numbers?
Laverne, If the PLP believed in PATI (less we forget the accountant general being threatened during the BHC scandal… and we need go no further) and the PLP also submitted their accounting on time maybe we could accurately state just how badly our money was mis-spent / mis-appropriated…
Also it seems funny that a certain new Premier was meant to investigate accusations surrounding possible “wrong doing” during the TCD contract and issuance of related contracts which went silent due to election time again…? Definitely gives me a warm fuzzy feeling of trust there!
Yep – The PLP is just as honest as it gets… no “liars” there at all huh? Thank god for such great governance.
-Noel
Variations are not part of the PPP. Any bets on how many million$ there will be in variations?
@ Triangle Drifter – I am sure you probably did have plenty to say, but please let us ALL know where you did. Because you blog about it, and i BET you didn’t write any letters to the editor in the Gazette.
So please spare me the dramatics, you are what you are, and your daily blogs say just that.
** Because you DIDN’T blog about it,
through the lens, were there blogs in the 1990s? No.
Get a freakin life. You sound like you’re about 7 years old.
and that’s why TTL says “and i BET you didn’t write any letters to the editor in the UBP Gazette.”
Rick Rock, are you daft? Or just blind? Or both…
And what if he did or didn’t write a letter to the paper? Is writing a letter to the RG the minimum standard for having something to say about something? You’re being ridiculous.
And as respects your cheap “UBP Gazette” shot. You sound like those idiots talking about the “combined opposition”.
Getting back to the actual story here, it’s a fixed cost contract. It can’t be off budget. So why is Zaney making announcements about how it “remains on budget”?
Maybe he’s amazed that a contract can remain on budget, or wonders why a contractor would keep to the price and not put in for extras.
Thats right, I have supernatural powers & was able to voice my opinion on something that did not exist.
Talk radio did exist then & I used to be fairly active then. These days, not much. Don’t even listen much, especially when the likes of Laverne monopolise the air. There are more productive ways to spend ones time.
Laverne, well…Laverne…umm…oh why waste the time responding to her?
Enough of the diversions. Back to the KEMH project.
IS THERE A CARPARK STRUCTURE i.e. As in Bulls Head?
If you thonk these costs to the tax payer are fixed you better get the check book ready.Why do you think Paget Health built the mock ups of rooms,nurses stations etc?
That’s a way to add profit to their contract…”Here’s the standard model,now if you want the upgraded version the cost will be…$++++”.
Change Orders will rain down from the sky…mark my words!
If you “think”..
I too thought the contract was locked in and pricing was firm and nothing could change. Well here we go again lets see how many overruns are on this one and which firm gets the difference in there pockets Mr. Desilva.
SORT IT OUT or GET OUT!!
Maybe one of the more financial types on here can explain it better but to me this project is like putting something on your credit card.
There is a service charge & somebody has to pay for it. That SOMEBODY is us. It is not being built at cost. Everyone involved expects, & deserves, a profit. The question is, how much & how? You just KNOW it will me maximized. Watch out for the changes, the same type of thing that ran up the Westgate bill. That one will seem like pennys after the KEMH overuns & changes are totaled up.
Lets not even begin to calculate the interest charges especially if there is no money to pay down the principal.
A fixed cost project is bound to be more expensive. The contractor can’t change the price, so he builds in enough of a cushion to make sure he can’t fail to make a profit. The government projects the image that it’s “on budget”, but the reality is they paid through the nose for it in the first place.
PPP has been, and continues to be, as massive failure especially in healthcare and education. It’s typical Bermuda really, as we leap into this just as the rest of the world wakes up to the folly of PPP.
Zane is being disingenuous.
If the budget is really high it’ is a little easy to stick to it