Hawaii taxpayers may be coughing up $35 million or more to fix a state hospital building that a private contractor designed and built for $160 million four years ago.
The state Department of Health is seeking $35 million from the Legislature for emergency and longer-term repairs to the high-security facility for 144 acute psychiatric patients on the Hawaii State Hospital campus in Kaneohe.
The agency also is requesting $2 million to pay legal expenses for special deputy attorneys general who are trying to work with the project’s lead contractor, Colorado-based Hensel Phelps, to resolve problems that include roof leaks, plumbing leaks, mold, corrosion, an ineffective air-handling system and more without litigation.
On Wednesday, HDOH and other state agency officials briefed members of the state House Committee on Health about conditions at the hospital’s four-story Hale Ho‘ola building, previously described as a state-of-the-art facility.
Some committee members found the appropriation requests for almost $40 million hard to stomach.
“Giving out $40 million after we just gave ($160 million) is not going to go good with the people of Hawaii,” said Rep. Ikaika Olds (D, Moiliili-McCully). “They’re going to be very upset about this, and they’re going to want to know who was incompetent and why we are giving up our tax monies for this.”
Rep. Scot Matayoshi (D, Kaneohe-Maunawili) expressed frustration with the state’s predicament, especially after previously telling constituents in his district that the new hospital building was on budget, on time and viewed as a model for state construction projects.
“I’m very frustrated with this,” he said, questioning whether any agreement exists with Hensel Phelps to reimburse the state for the money being sought from the Legislature for repairs.
“If we’re fronting $40 million with no agreement for a payback, why are we doing it?” Matayoshi asked. “I mean Hensel Phelps is a big company. They should be fronting the money.”
J.T. Kim, a state deputy attorney general, said no agreement exists but state lawyers, HDOH and the state Department of Accounting and General Services are trying to hold all responsible parties accountable for the alleged design and construction defects.
Kim also said Hensel Phelps has been doing corrective work on the building at the company’s cost, but that serious problems persist, including mold growth that led hospital staff to file collective-bargaining grievances about working in an unsafe environment.
Hensel Phelps representatives did not respond to Honolulu Star-Advertiser requests for comment Wednesday.
The company won a contract in 2018 to design and build the 144-bed facility for the state, which had sought for several years to improve conditions at the hospital where old facilities contributed to overcrowding, escapes and patient assaults on employees.
When the new complex was finished and accepted by DAGS in 2021, it was praised for security, safety and support features.
Those features include hundreds of digital cameras, interior spaces with clear lines of sight, two-layer security fencing and elevators that separate staff and potentially dangerous patients.
Other features include classrooms for therapy and anger-management sessions, padded rooms to prevent unstable patients from injuring themselves, a central park, tennis and basketball courts, a game room, a gymnasium, a chapel, a library and a room for virtual court hearings that doubles as a mock courtroom where patients can practice going before a judge.
Nearly all patients have been sent to the hospital by courts after committing minor or serious crimes, including many who await evaluations on whether they are fit to stand trial.
However, moving patients from overcrowded older portions of the hospital got delayed by more than a year due to the discovery of initial obvious problems when staff began checking out the facility.
Marian Tsuji, deputy director of HDOH’s behavioural health administration, said during Wednesday’s briefing that water from showers ran out into the hallway, and that some doorknobs and door hinges weren’t safe because they could be used by patients as a means to hang themselves.
After some corrections were made, HDOH began to use the facility in 2022 but continued to discover more problems. A warranty period for construction defects expired in 2023.
Gordon Wood, deputy public works administrator at DAGS, told the committee that ongoing problems include plumbing leaks, an ineffective and corroding air-handling system, and roof drain designs that were changed by the contractor and don’t work properly. These issues have led to mold in the building that can be cleaned but not cured by maintenance staff, he added.
In the gym, metal window louvers have corroded to a point where Wood said shards have fallen onto the floor “as little daggers.”
Wood also said drain pipes were discovered to be clogged with tile grout.
“Somehow a contractor thought that it was reasonable to just pour grout into the drains,” he said. “And you know, they don’t work very well after that. But this is something that that we couldn’t figure out until we started to dig into the building and … tear things apart.”
Mark Linscott, administrator of the hospital, told the committee that Hale Ho‘ola is at full occupancy but that all the problems make some areas unsafe and unusable.
“This is an ongoing challenge for the hospital,” he said.
A $6.2 million emergency appropriation is being sought to further investigate and identify water leaks, continue mold abatement work and repair the building’s air-handling system.
A less-urgent appropriation for $28.8 million is being sought mainly to replace the roof and to make plumbing improvements.
Wood noted that the $35 million total for repair work is an estimate, and that the cost might end up being higher.
Senate Bill 1448, which proposes the $8.2 million emergency appropriation for initial repair work and legal fees, was advanced by the Senate Committee on Health and Human Services at an initial public hearing on Feb. 3.
Sen. Joy San Buenaventura (D, Puna) was a bit incredulous about the request, but as committee chair she also declared a need to pass the bill to address safety issues.
“It’s a new building, and you folks are asking (for) $8 million to fix a new building?” San Buenaventura said at the hearing, adding that she wanted to know what was being done to recover costs from the contractor.
A DAGS official replied that recovery efforts were still in an early stage and that “all remedies” were being considered.
County building inspectors need to take responsibility for their failures to assure codes were followed!!! So very sad