Construction continues at North Shore Health. The Care Center section is nearly complete and the hospital board was impressed with what was finished during a walk-through on July 21.
At the North Shore Health hospital board meeting on July 21, Director Kimber Wraalstad told hospital board members that Blue Cross Blue Shield would no longer offer health plans to individuals and families in Minnesota next year.
Instead, said Wraalstad, Blue Cross will only offer health insurance plans to companies that provide coverage for their employees.
As Minnesota’s largest health insurer, the move was unexpected, Wraalstad said.
Blue Cross estimates it lost more than $500 million in the individual health plan market over the last three years.
The move away from the individual market will affect 103,000 Minnesotans who will have to find a new health insurer next year. The company will offer a stripped down version of Blue Plus, but, according to Michael Guyette, CEO of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, who said in a newsletter, exactly what that will entail won’t be known until later this year.
Shelly Peterson, executive vice president of Boldt came before the board and introduced a new team of leaders who will run the day-to-day building operations at the hospital and care center.
North Shore Health (previously Cook County North Shore Hospital and Care Center) is currently undergoing a two-year, $24.5 million renovation and addition that is headed by Boldt, a company known for working with hospitals and care centers on remodels.
Peterson acknowledged that her company had run into a rough patch, falling behind on schedule. Workers installed some handrails in hallways at the wrong height and guard rails were put in care center bathrooms without properly anchoring them.
While those things have been fixed, at the time the hospital board wasn’t too happy that money was taken from the contingency fund to make those repairs. Board members expressed displeasure that Boldt did not pay for the labor and materials for the repairs because these were oversights that should have been caught by the company supervisors.
Peterson introduced new Senior Project Manager Josh Christiansen and new Project Superintendent Scott Schaeffer who will both lead day-today operations. She also introduced Josh Kostikuk, construction services manager and Jesse Ward, field operations manager, who will provide leadership and support to the project team, “to ensure a smooth and successful transition,” Peterson said.
She also acknowledged that some of the work done to date “wasn’t up to our expectations or the owner’s expectations.”
She said, “From a quality standpoint, we have very robust standards.”
To get back on track Boldt called a special meeting for all of the contractors on July 21 and went over expectations for all of them. That was just part of the Performance Improvement Plan Peterson said Boldt was implementing. “We are trying to be proactive and not reactive,” she added.
Finally, walk-throughs on finished areas will be done three times, if necessary, before a final inspection, said Peterson, and any items not up to par will not be paid for until the work meets Boldt’s standards.
“Are we looking at this group for the long term?” Board member Kay Olson asked.
Peterson said it was often tough to find people who could work in a remote, rural location, adding it was hard on the workers and their families. But she said Boldt had been screening employees to make sure they would be a good fit with Cook County.
Hospital Board Member Tom Spence asked Wraalstad if she thought Boldt was performing its duties up to the contract, and Wraalstad replied yes, but because of recent issues, she said they would have to “go the extra mile” to help her feel they were improving.
Next Spence asked Rory Smith, head of maintenance, how he thought Boldt had been performing, and Smith replied, “They have a lot to prove to us. This new group is not starting out on a level playing field. They have a ways to go to dig out and prove to us they can do the work we expect them to do.”
As for getting back on track, the kitchen is supposed to be completed and ready for inspection on September 19, and Ward said that while that timeline is “tight” it should be doable.
While the project needs to be speeded up, Peterson said her company wasn’t going to bypass safety. “I don’t want someone not going home to their family after work.”
And while the meeting with Boldt personnel was difficult at times, the walkthrough of the 99 percent completed care center residential rooms elicited oohs and aahs from the hospital board who said there would be a celebration once the health care inspector sent the paperwork back saying the rooms were ready for the residents.
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