Two contractors are partnering to quickly add capacity to hospitals and medical facilities, and are waiving management fees on COVID-19 related project, The Miami Herald reports.

Plaza Construction and Central Consulting & Contracting say they are offering the service to hospitals in Connecticut, Florida, New Jersey, New York and the mid-Atlantic.

While both companies are based in New York City, Plaza has a substantial presence in Miami.

Plaza president Bob Meltzer says the companies will charge only labour and materials.

The companies are using modular construction techniques, through a contract with Brooklyn-based FullStack Modular, to quickly add wings, create freestanding units and adapt spaces.

“We have a rich history in healthcare construction and the construction sector,” Meltzer told the Herald. “We recognize the severity of the situation. We want to put our staff and people to work. The modular can be shipped out of the factory and put in place in a turnkey fashion,” Meltzer said.

Meanwhile, Central Consulting president Richard Simone was quoted as saying that partitions can also solve problems quickly. As an example, A New York hospital wanted to partition off space in an emergency room and adapt it for isolation rooms for COVID-19 cases. A team worked around the clock, using partitions to build seven rooms in 23 hours, he said.

“In that example it is very quick because they had the correct outlets, ventilation — everything was there and we just made separation rooms, which are not as complicated as a full intensive care unit,” Simone said.

The two companies were both founded in 1986. “By aligning expertise and resources, the companies will provide swift, effective, and efficient construction services to healthcare systems throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Florida regions on a no-fee basis for projects related to the COVID-19 pandemic,” the companies say in a statement.

“Healthcare systems nationwide are becoming increasingly overwhelmed with coronavirus-related cases, from testing to quarantine, with limited space to treat patients effectively,” Simone said in a statement. “Our firm’s partnership with Plaza Construction allows us to further be at the forefront of the response during the pandemic by working with hospitals in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Florida to quickly build temporary testing and isolation units as well as convert general areas into patient spaces. Plaza’s partnership with FullStack Modular will allow us to leverage FullStack’s progressive and deep-rooted understanding of modular design and manufacturing which is in line with our nimble and tactical approach.”

Central Consulting recently staked its flag in South Florida to serve the growing region experiencing heavy demand for new and expanding medical facilities. As Plaza Construction has been active in South Florida since 2004 and successfully partnered with Central Consulting 18 months ago on several New York City projects, now is the ideal time to officially expand their strategic alliance to Florida and aid healthcare systems in need, the companies say in their statement.

“The cultural and core values of Central Consulting match ours and made the expansion a natural next step for our partnership,” Meltzer said. “To ensure the maximum impact of our commitment, we are imploring New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to provide relief at their disposal in the form of subsidies and insurances regarding licensing, permitting, and other requirements to support medical construction projects in both states during the coronavirus pandemic.”

Central Consulting has worked with many major healthcare systems in the Northeast U.S. for complex projects from hybrid robotic operating suites to ground-up development and facility planning. Plaza Construction has managed more than $20 billion in commercial, residential, hospitality, and mixed-use projects along with involvement in the medical construction sector. Following the containment and resolution of COVID-19, the firms say their partnership will continue in Florida “to meet demand for new medical buildings and services due to the state’s burgeoning population and increasing demographic mix.”