Ads by Google Ads by Google

LBJ Medical Center upgrades phased for completion

[photo: Blue Chen-Fruean]
blue@samoanews.com

By next year, Phase I of the LBJ Medical Center’s major construction project is expected to be completed. The work is being carried out by local contractor Paramount Builders and according to company officials, the delay with the project is due to the fact that work has to be done ‘phase-by-phase’ because of the tedious process of having to install new underground electrical conduits, which would otherwise require a shutdown of the territory’s only hospital.

Upon completion, the new two-story facility will house several hospital wards and units including Labor and Delivery, Surgical, Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Central Supply, and Imaging. Work will also include the expansion and renovation of the respiratory therapy suites.

In addition to electrical work, other major underground work includes the installation of drainage and a water line. According to Paramount Builder’s chief engineer J.R. Mirasol, work on the drainage is a must “because what they had before was a concrete culvert which needs to be replaced due to water infiltration.”

He explained that a box culvert is the solution they’ve come up with.

Construction started last year and Mirasol explained that the slow progress is due to the limited space at the worksite.

“We have to do everything phase-by-phase, starting from the inside and working our way out,” he explained. The project comes with a price tag of $5.6 million.

Phase I only includes to shell of the building and the installation of underground pipelines.

Phase II, III, and IV — which will be the finish work — are yet to be put out for bid.

Once completed, the top floor of the new two-story building will house hospital equipment and the air conditioning units.