Last Thursday (Aug. 5, 2010) the Savannah District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reinstated the contract with Turner Construction Company Inc., of Huntsville, Ala., for the construction of the replacement for Martin Army Community Hospital at Fort Benning, Ga.
The reinstatement follows an order issued on July 8 from the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Turner Construction Co., Inc. v. United States, No. 10-195C, in which the court overturned the contract termination. In the ruling, the judge ordered the Corps to reinstate the contract.
The Corps of Engineers terminated the hospital contract on March 23, 2010, after the Government Accountability Office (GAO) sustained two protests against the award of the contract to Turner Construction, finding two organizational conflicts of interest.
The Corps implemented the GAO recommendation to make a new award determination. Today’s reinstatement will allow Turner to proceed with the construction of the facility.
The contract, originally awarded on Sept. 28, 2009, for $333,359,000, proposes a new facility with 745,000 square feet of space designed to replace the existing 393,000 square feet hospital.
With 70 in-patient beds, the hospital will serve Soldiers, military retirees, and families of the Fort Benning community, providing a range of specialties. The design is split into two wings—a clinic and a hospital section, equipped with two parking decks for patients and staff members.
