LaPorte Hospital Construction Resumes
(photo courtesy of Stan Maddux
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowConstruction of the new $125 million LaPorte Hospital has resumed after the site was temporarily shut down due to COVID-19. Our partners at The Times of Northwest Indiana report construction restarted Monday.
Joe Forsthoffer, spokesperson for the project’s Alabama-based contractor Robins & Morton, tells The Times about 60 of more than 200 employees tested positive for the virus.
“We’ve implemented additional health and safety measures to provide an added level or assurance for everyone working on the project. Those steps are in addition to the extensive protocols all following CDC guidance that were already in place,” said Forsthoffer.
The publication reports that SERVPRO of LaPorte County spent 48 hours cleaning and disinfecting the site.
Forsthoffer said, following guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, returning workers had to produce certification that they tested negative or spent 14 days in self-isolation without symptoms during the last 72 hours. The publication says workers testing positive must show they no longer had symptoms in the last 72 hours 10 days after first being diagnosed.
Additionally, all workers must wear face coverings and will have daily temperature checks. The Times reports workers will also need to fill out a questionnaire to make sure they haven’t developed symptoms or had recent contact with someone exhibiting symptoms.
In May, IIB reported work on the hospital was suspended when workers tested positive for the virus.