By BOB MARTIN
Eagle Times Staff
The Sullivan County Heath Care renovations have been progressing well, with Facilities and Operations Director Mary Bourque telling the county commission that while there have been a couple snags along the way, residents should be able to move in starting March 10.
“We are continuing to progress well with the focus being on finalizing the Phase 3 new addition, and then also getting ready for Phase 3B, which will be the MacConnell refresh,” Bourque said at Tuesday’s county commission meeting. “So, a lot of things have happened in terms of closing out the building projects addition in order to prepare to move in.”
Bourque said they are now at the time where they need to focus on wrangling in the final items. Some hold-ups have occurred due to parts not arriving in time and issues with an elevator during inspection.
Bourque provided the commission with a written report outlining the major activities completed, as well as those that are still in the works.
The Fire Marshall completed signoff of most of the building systems, but there are some open issues to be able to move residents in. Completed systems include the fire alarm, sprinkler, electrical, mechanical, plumbing and building.
Bourque said that most of the furniture has been delivered and installed, but there are some pieces they are waiting on that include resident recliners, a county reception workstation, conference table bases and overhead storage for workstations.
Building technology has begun, with data network and wireless network operating in the addition. Phones are activated on the first floor, but they are waiting for them to be activated on the upper floors. Security cameras have been installed and calibrated, and the door access system is functional. Parts for the Wanderguard system have been delayed, however.
There are several outstanding items for occupancy and resident moves. One is the re-inspection of the elevator, which derailed during the rupture test and needs to be realigned. Bourque said there was a sudden jerking motion that caused some cosmetic damage to the cab. There are two new elevators and the elevator with no issues during the rupture test was re-inspected yesterday. The county is awaiting parts to fix the other elevator, but she said this will not affect opening the floors for residency as they can do so with one elevator.
There also needs to be a final sign-off for the certificate of occupancy by the Fire Marshal’s office.
“We gave him a written copy of our fire emergency plan, which explains to staff what their roles are depending on what they’re doing,” Bourque said. “We also had to give him what we have for a voice message when a fire alarm goes off, which instructs staff and visitors on what to do. That was part of the change because we needed a different voice message for the first floor compared to upper floors.”
Bourque said the hope is that all of these issues are resolved in the next week. There are still a few unknowns as they resolve the final issues with the Fire Marshal, she explained. Once the certificate of occupancy is signed, the Marshal needs to come back for a licensing inspection to operate as a nursing home.
“That is sort of another process out of our control,” Bourque said. “As confident as we feel about meeting all the requirements, you never know when you have another set of eyes on things, they can find things you may not have seen the first time.”
Move-in plans are now being developed by staff, as well. According to Bourque’s information, tentative move in of residents into the addition will be between March 10 and 12, with day one being for floors two and four, and then MacConnell for day two. Staff will be moved in throughout the first week of March, she said.
“That is the date we came up with based on these potential issues, so we really feel like we can meet that date,” Bourque said. “It is all dependent on our authorities having jurisdiction and signing off on everything.”
