Search for new hospital contractor could take 12 months
Health bosses have revealed it could take 12 months before a permanent contractor is found to complete the £475 million Midland Met Hospital.
The planned Smethwick hospital suffered a huge setback after previous contractor Carillion collapsed - putting the project's deadline date back by three years.
Work ground to a halt in January but restarted in October after Sandwell's hospital trust appointed Balfour Beatty on a short-term-contract to pick up the pieces.
But the trust is still searching for a 'final contractor' in order to finish building the hospital which is scheduled for completion by 2022.
Trust chief executive Toby Lewis said: "The sooner we find a new contractor, the better.
"Balfour are with us until the Spring of 2019. We will be in the market for a final contractor. The process will take between six and nine months.
"I haven't got a firm deadline but certainly before next Winter we want a final contractor on site."
The collapse of Wolverhampton-based construction firm Carillion also caused the project's budget to rise by millions.
The delays have also put more pressure on Sandwell's existing hospitals - Sandwell General Hospital and City Hospital Birmingham - where those facilities are caring for extra patients until the new hospital opens.
Smethwick's MP John Spellar, who met with Toby Lewis at the hospital last week - said: "It has been a concern for me because it provides a real disruption to the programme and also for staff who have to work out where their future is.
"I will be taking this up with the hospital trust as to how we will be attracting the real skilled professionals that are going to be needed to run a real high intensity hospital."
When the hospital gets built, it will boast 670 patient beds in total and a new emergency department.
There will be also be a host of specialist medicals units including x-rays and heart operations.
The hospital is being built to provide new health care to the surrounding region of Sandwell and Birmingham and free up NHS resources.
With work re-commencing, it is hoped the project will stay on track in time for completion four years from now.
"Clearly, having had a catastrophic collapse like Carillion's, it would be foolish to be entirely confident that everything here from in will go entirely smoothly," said Mr Lewis.
"We need to secure a final contractor and it needs to be at a price that works for taxpayers. I think once we have done that, we have a relatively straight forward build to finish.
"And what we need to make sure, particularly for our staff who have waited a long time for this, is that when we move in, it works without teething difficulties."
