Price soars on contract changes to new St. Elizabeths hospital

The construction contract for a new St. Elizabeths Hospital has been modified nearly 150 times since work started three years ago, raising the price tag on the massive project to $157 million with still a year to go until the first patients move in.

The latest changes approved by the Department of Mental Health, totaling $3.7 million, include $26,992 to provide for handicap seating in the auditorium, $128,203 to relocate a guardhouse closer to the gate, $9,964 to add a bookshelf to the office of the chief executive officer, and $5,124 to furnish and install an “ornamental fence” adjacent to the dining room.

That brings what was a $139.9 million fixed-price contract with Tompkins Builders Inc. to $156.9 million. The agency expects to move into the facility next March.

“This hospital seems to be getting more expensive by the day,” at-large D.C. Councilman David Catania, health committee chairman, said during a recent oversight hearing of mental health’s 2010 budget.

Dwarfed by the baseball stadium and other high-profile endeavors, the new 300-bed mental hospital has received little notice. That changed on March 30, when Catania announced he would hold a hearing on the increasingly costly project.

“We inherited a design and we had to make some changes to support best practices in patient care at a psychiatric facility — including the infrastructure for electronic medical records, a new unit for the medically frail, therapeutic wall coverings, and advanced communications capabilities for first responders, including emergency fire and medical personnel,” the agency said in a statement Friday.

The new 450,000-square-foot hospital is “state-of-the-art,” officials say, and features green spaces off each patient unit, enclosed courtyards, and a 28,000-square-foot green roof.

The contract has been modified 142 times, and every change order is reviewed by construction manager Gilbane Inc. “to make sure it is reasonable and conforms with industry standard,” the agency said. Also on the most recent list: $2.7 million to procure and install a telecommunications, data and wireless network, $9,003 to relocate a unit heater, and $3,925 to switch the position of the hair salon sink.

“I’ll assume that all of these are completely legitimate,” Catania said, “but I think it’s time to hold a hearing on what has happened.”

The existing 154-year-old St. Elizabeths Hospital is in decrepit condition after decades of decline. Roughly 400 patients stay there, half of whom are committed, on any given day.

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