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Martek Helps Steer VA Medical Center Project Back on Track
Location: Colorado
Services: Healthcare
background
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) awarded contracts for the construction of one of its largest medical centers to date in 2014. The state-of-the-art Colorado facilities will encompass a projected 1.3 million square feet of medical space and close to 2 million square feet for the overall facilities. As with many construction projects of this magnitude, the project has faced significant delays. At one point, construction was halted. The VA decided to not renew the incumbent’s contract and to award a new contract to steer the project back onto the right course—and chose Martek to do so.

challenges
When a major transition happens midstream during a project and contract management changes hands, deployment can be problematic.  With the VA’s confidence for the previous project management team at low point, Martek focused on putting in place a more cohesive team environment – one that would be built for success. To help reset the course for the project, Martek was required to coordinate with the outgoing professionals during the handover of responsibilities – a common industry best practice. The project was already years behind and significantly over the original budget. While Martek assumed the project would be well under way when the team stepped in, it became apparent they would have to start from the baseline. They faced the sizeable challenge of getting the project back on track—quickly.

martek solution
When the Martek team initiated the project, they knew they had to ascertain exactly what had been done and build a plan going forward. For a complex project such as this one, a smooth transition requires close coordination, open lines of communications and knowledge sharing by the multiple stakeholders involved, including the outgoing project team. This process can often be a difficult one, particularly when outgoing vendors are reluctant to share proprietary information and methodologies. Despite starting the project with very little information, Martek’s seasoned professionals were able to forensically understand the key components of the project and reset it without compromising resources, time and quality.   Martek worked with more than 10 teams for wide of array of deliverables—from construction to electrical contracting and more—to coordinate the project and steer it in the right direction.

martek result
With Martek’s expertise, the project is now 80% percent complete, with the expected completion date of July 2018.  Seven of the nine separate buildings are complete. The team achieved the near-impossible task of getting the project back on track after seemingly insurmountable hurdles.  The world class medical facility will serve more than 400,000 Veterans and their families across Colorado and expand needed medical services in Denver upon completion.