Hospital sues contractor claiming floors at $100M facility are not level

A hospital in Toronto is suing a group of contractors hired to build its main campus for $100 million, alleging construction-related errors are creating safety hazards for patients. 

In a lawsuit filed in April, Humber River Health claims a consortium of designers and builders working with Plenary Health Care Partnerships failed to ensure the floors at the hospital were level and flat. Further, Humber River claims some of the floors are already deteriorating—despite the facility opening less than 10 years ago, in October 2015. 

Humber River wrote in its legal complaint that a “sizable portion” is impacted by the “floor levelness” issue, creating a “critical operational and safety issue” that has “led, and will continue to lead, to health and safety issues.”

"Non-level floors make it difficult for staff to move equipment, supplies, food, and patients on wheeled transportation devices. Often, wheeled carts have to be placed behind rubber stoppers to prevent the carts from sliding out of position,” the health system added in its filing. 

Further, it said the deteriorating floors—a related but separate issue—are impacting operations in critical areas of the hospital, with on-site maintenance unable to keep up with the damage. 

Construction at the Toronto facility began in 2011, with the government of Ontario hiring Plenary to design and build the hospital and provide ongoing maintenance for 30 years. However, the lawsuit contends any attempts to fix the facility are currently failing as a result of massive design and construction flaws.