Altru Health System Grand Forks found that its main clinic has structural problem and will be replacing it.
According to Altru CEO Dave Molmen, they had the safety of the patients and staff in mind and will not put them in that building.
The Main Clinic with an area of 110,000 square feet will be replaced in its entirety. The process of replacing the said clinic will take about two years to complete. The cost of the feat to rebuild from the ground up is still unknown.
Plans were also discussed in trying to stabilizing the building which would take around six months to accomplish. However, officials ultimately decided that rebuilding will be more practical and cost effective in the long run.
Molmen explains that the problem with the building structures stems from the design flaws. A beam in the structure is causing the wall of the building to sag as reported by Grand Forks Herald.
Molmen went on to state that all of Altru's structures are covered by insurance but they are unsure how much the company will receive for the damage to the Main Clinic.
A third party hired by Altru to study the building found that there were design deficiencies. Heyer Engineering inspectors found that the flaws included an undersized stiff plate, an undersized column cap plate, lack of lateral bracing and improper orientation of column flanges.
The Main Clinic was built by Harold J Westin & Associates a company that had operated out of St. Paul. The building was constructed in the mid-70s and the company now appears to be defunct.
Ken Vein, Altru Plant & Facilities director, states that the Main Clinic underwent regular inspections and passed all of them. The defective beam went unnoticed, however, because it was tucked away inside a way as reported by WDAZ.
