This was reported by City Councilor for Health Peter Hacker (SPÖ) and the Deputy Director General of the Health Association, Herwig Wetzlinger, in a press conference on Monday. The KH Nord, which went into operation in 2019, was repeatedly in the headlines due to numerous problems during construction.
In the meantime, an agreement has been reached with hundreds of companies involved. Only three procedures against contractors still have to be clarified in court. It was said that 400 million euros in additional costs could be averted.
Hacker emphasized that the total amount was below the EUR 1.41 billion forecast by the Court of Auditors. It is also lower than his political target – i.e. the maximum limit of 1.341 billion euros set by him in 2018. The Court of Auditors’ estimate “didn’t make him and the city happy” at the time. That’s why he asked himself what a “realistic goal” could look like. Hacker was satisfied that this had now been undercut.
In any case, the hospital is more expensive than originally calculated. 829 million euros were initially estimated, said Wetzlinger. However, one should not forget the significant price increase given the long construction period. You are now – if you valorise the amount at that time – 25 percent above the forecast. He asserted that this puts the company in the range for such projects set out by the Court of Auditors. This found that even 30 percent would be acceptable.
“Energy Ring” had to be paid for
A multi-stage process for invoice verification and additional cost claims was set up for the final settlement. For example, the building supervision, the planning team, the project management and the accompanying control checked. In individual cases, corrections of more than 90 percent of the required amount could be achieved, it was said today. As an example, the construction site fence was mentioned – due to its high price already in the media. Here the asking price was 826,000 euros. In fact, 38,000 euros have now been billed.
In other cases it was less successful. The famous “energy ring”, i.e. the commissioning of an energetic specialist, ultimately had to be settled. It cost around 90,000 euros. According to Wetzlinger, the bill has been corrected: “Even if the content of this service was by no means correct.” The ring of protection had also provided a report, with the appropriate procedure being discontinued. The person responsible for the order in the health network (at that time still the KAV hospital network, note) was relieved of his office by the municipal hospital operator.
“A politically hotly contested project has come to an end,” said City Councilor Hacker today. The findings from the project were also incorporated into a reorganization of construction management. A corresponding subsidiary was founded for this purpose.
In the large hospital on Brünner Straße, everyday life – shaped by the corona pandemic – has now found its way. Almost 2,500 employees work there. Among other things, you have looked after almost 2,000 Covid patients so far. According to Wetzlinger, they are in full operation, but due to the difficulties caused by the pandemic, full capacities have not yet been reached in all departments.
Source: Nachrichten
