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Virgin Islands Legislature Committee on Health, Hospitals and Human Services Honorable Senator Ray Fonseca, Chairman Tuesday February 25, 2025 Testimony of Darryl A. Smalls, P.E. Executive Director Territorial Hospital Redevelopment Team Virgin Islands Government Hospital and Health Facilities Corporation Good afternoon Honorable Senator Ray Fonseca, Chairman of the Committee on Health, Hospitals and Human Services, Honorable Senators of the Committee on Health, Hospitals and Human Services, other Honorable Senators of the 36th Legislature, Senate Staff, fellow hospital testifiers, and the listening and viewing audience. My name is Darryl A. Smalls, Executive Director of Facilities & Capital Development for the Territorial Hospital Redevelopment Team (THRT), which I serve under the leadership of Chairman, Dr. Jerry Smith of the Virgin Islands Government Hospital and Health Facilities Corporation. If I may, I would like to take a quick moment to publicly thank the former Chairman, Christopher E. Finch for his unwavering support to the THRT VIGHHFC/THRT Testimony to Committee on Health, Hospitals and Human Services Darryl A. Smalls February 25, 2025 2 for the past four years. I would also like to welcome and look forward to the continued collaborative and steadfast support of our new Chairman, Dr. Jerry Smith. Thank you for this opportunity to testify today before the Committee on Health, Hospitals and Human Services with respect to the Recovery Efforts as it pertains specifically to the designs including final completion target dates of the Governor Juan F. Luis Hospital & Medical Center, Schneider Regional Medical Center, and the Myrah Keating Smith Community Health Center. As the Executive Director of the THRT, my primary role is to manage and oversee the planning, programmatic design, final design, bidding, project management, construction, procurement and close out for the redevelopment of our Territorial Health Facilities to include the Juan F. Luis Hospital (JFLH), the Roy L. Schneider Hospital (RLSH), the Charlotte Kimelman Cancer Institute (CKCI), and the Myrah Keating Smith Community Health Center (MKSCHC). In recent testimony you received last week from Adrienne Williams-Octalien, the Director of the Office of Disaster Recovery, you were provided an update as to the efforts of her office and the Super Project Management Office in spearheading the project bundling efforts for the island of St. John which includes the Myrah Keating Smith Community Health Center as well as the soon to be resolicited Governor Juan F. Luis Hospital & Medical Center and the upcoming solicitation for the Governor Roy L. Schneider Hospital. During my last testimony before this Committee, I reported on several important milestones that had been completed in addition to those that were anticipated to commence. Since the inception of the Territorial Hospital Redevelopment Team, we have had great success despite the many challenges we have faced to date. Shortly after the 2017 Hurricanes, we successfully completed modifications to the interim healthcare facility that was originally provided by the Army Corp of VIGHHFC/THRT Testimony to Committee on Health, Hospitals and Human Services Darryl A. Smalls February 25, 2025 3 Engineer’s on the island of St. John in 2019 at a cost of $ 433,513.43. We successfully completed the Mechanical Building and systems to facilitate the opening of JFL North in 2023 at a cost of $11,863,521.74. We were assigned the task to complete much needed repairs to facilitate the opening and transition of patients and patient care into JFL North from the Governor Juan F. Luis Hospital in April 2023. We successfully completed the Clinical Administrative Building for non- patient care services for JFL North in 2024 at a cost of $7,200,379.61. We successfully acquired leased land adjacent to JFL North to provide on-site parking for staff and visitors, a critically needed building for on-site storage for food and medical supplies, medical records storage, and support services for Facilities Maintenance wherein we will soon issue the Notice to Proceed for the construction to commence in less than thirty (30) days at a combined cost of $36,912,037.28. We successfully completed the solicitation and selected a contractor who will soon commence with renovation of an existing facility to house the interim dialysis functions on St. Croix at a combined cost of $ 8,281,670.85. We are currently awaiting approval of a cost alignment to secure the required funding to complete the work effort. The THRT in collaboration with the Territorial Board and the Leadership of the Schneider Regional Medical Center are also pleased to report that the reconstruction of the Charlotte Kimelman Cancer Institute remains on schedule, and we continue to make great progress. We maintain an active construction project at a cost of $32,523,105.61. We have also solicited and contracted for the Linear Accelerator and CT Simulator at a combined cost of $3,971,241.00. We continue with other vitally important solicitations to include Low Voltage, Signage & Wayfinding, Minor Medical Equipment, FFE, IT Equipment and Security systems to name a few which will ensure all items are procured and received timely for the projected completion of November 2025. VIGHHFC/THRT Testimony to Committee on Health, Hospitals and Human Services Darryl A. Smalls February 25, 2025 4 To date, THRT has successfully completed and is in the process of completing projects totaling more than $101,185,469.52 in hurricane related disaster recovery efforts. A testament to the hard work, tenacity, dedication and commitment of the GHHFC, the Governor Juan F. Luis Hospital, the Schneider Regional Medical Center and the THRT. The THRT, the Territorial Board and the Executive Leadership Teams of both JFLH and SRMC remain committed to working collaboratively to develop the standards from a systematic perspective to ensure that the Medical and Clinical programming efforts are standardized throughout our respective facilities. This is vitally important for the sustainability, resiliency, operability, and maintenance of these major investments. Once completed, our facilities will be state-of-the-art healthcare facilities for the people of the Virgin Islands. Our residents deserve no less. As I conclude my presentation, I want to thank the Board of the Government Hospital’s and Health Facilities Corporation, the Executive Leadership Teams of JFLH and SRMC, the employees of our hospitals and the numerous public and private supporters for their acknowledgement and appreciation of the efforts of the Territorial Hospital Redevelopment Team. And to the consummate professionals of the Territorial Hospital Redevelopment Team, I thank you. This concludes my presentation. I will remain available to answer questions you may have at the appropriate time.