California hospitals that are constructing new facilities to meet required earthquake safety standards by 2008 are reeling from a 66% increase in the price of construction materials and labor since 2003, according to the California Hospital Association. The hospital group says construction costs have increased from $330/square foot in 2003 to $550/square foot in 2006 due to heavy demand for construction services in California and qualified contractors limiting their healthcare projects because of the complexity and perceived onerous regulations. The cost for hospitals to comply with the seismic standards has risen by 20% annually since 2001, which few hospitals can afford, says the CHA, adding that 56% of California hospitals are currently operating in the red. Forty percent of California’s 2,700 hospital buildings must be rebuilt to meet the new safety code, although CHA president C. Duane Dauner notes that no patient has died in 35 years due to an earthquake damaging a hospital building, despite numerous major quakes during that period.
