County Suspends Work on Hospital Project That's Years Overdue

Santa Clara County officials suspended work Friday on a $300 million hospital project in San Jose that is nearly three years behind schedule.

Turner Construction Company’s workers have been taken off the site for a new 168-room facility off of South Bascom Avenue, County Executive Jeff Smith said.

The suspension notice was posted at the site around 4:20 p.m., he said. The county’s contract with the New York-based company is expected to be terminated on Tuesday, Smith said.

“What it boiled down to was we had given them many, many, many chances and they continued to drag their feet in the project. They continued to not take responsibility for delays they caused and there have been safety issues on the project,” Smith said.

The suspension notice “is the latest in the string of bad management decisions by Santa Clara County that’ll add to the cost of the project, further delay opening and exposes the county to significant legal risk because we are now in a material breach of contract,” Turner Construction spokesman Larry Kamer said. The project is 90 percent complete and the “most cost effective” way to complete construction is with Turner, Kamer said.

Turner submitted a detailed proposal to the county at 3:36 p.m. Friday, Kamer said. At 3:58 p.m., the county said they were disappointed with the proposal but were open to further discussions and soon after posted the suspension notice, according to Kamer.

“We just can’t figure out on a day-to-day basis whether we’re dealing with Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde,” Kamer said.

The project was approved by voters in 2008 as part of a seismic retrofit program that needed to be completed under state law, county officials said. Work for the new facility started in 2009 and was supposed to be completed in 2012, but was initially pushed back to 2013, county officials said.

The latest completion date agreed to by both sides was Sept. 19, Smith said. Turner notified the county last year that they would not meet this month’s deadline and that the project would be done by the end of 2016, according to Kamer.

On Aug. 28, the county issued its final default notice to Turner on the project, citing the slow pace of work on the site.

Over the past few weeks, the county has counted 130 workers at the site and outside consultants have said there should be 400 workers on the job, Smith said.

Another concern raised by the county was a near-fatal accident last September at the project’s North Utility Loop, where a new steam line exploded while a subcontractor was climbing out of an underground vault.

The loop will provide utility services for the hospital’s facilities, according to county officials.

The county has asked for an analysis of the accident and a plan showing the steam system is safe, but has not heard a response from Turner, county officials said.

Over the past two weeks, the county gave Turner a chance to find a “final cure” for the project, Smith said.

Turner still has an opportunity over the next few days to come up with a solution, Smith said.

Company officials are still looking to move forward with the county on the project through negotiation, Kamer said.

For the workers who are now off the job Kamer said, “the county is going to have to explain to them why they’re out of work.”

The county has been in talks with other contractors to take over the project but Smith declined to identify which companies were being considered.

The board of supervisors would have to approve the new contractor before the work can continue, according to Smith.

--Bay City News