After Gov. Rick Scott vetoed a $500,000 renovation for the Okaloosa County Health Department, officials say they will go ahead and fund the most critical projects.
The renovations for the Fort Walton Beach and Crestview clinics had been in the planning stages for the past year, said Dr. Karen Chapman, the Health Department’s director.
“The $500,000 was going to allow us to do the full renovation, so without that we will have to modify what we will ultimately renovate,” she said. “We are prioritizing what can get done.”
Chapman said she doesn’t yet have a firm cost for the projects that will happen.
At the top of the list is extensive asbestos abatement at both clinics.
“We will get the asbestos abated in both locations,” Chapman said.
The areas where renovations are needed the most have asbestos and must be abated according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards, she added.
The abatement became a high priority after Chapman discovered that about two years ago floor tile containing asbestos glue had been removed from the Crestview clinic without following EPA standards. She then notified her employees, “anyone who currently or previously” worked for her, to advise them of the potential exposure to asbestos.
The risk was minimal, Chapman said.
“In our case, this type of asbestos did not present any health risk at all just in the fact that it was there,” she said. “It was under the flooring and people were walking on it. … Even the pulling up of it creates an incredibly minimal health risk.”
Chapman said she also offered employees a chance to have a medical evaluation under the Health Department’s workers compensation program.
The next step is for crews to remove the remaining tile and conduct the asbestos abatement before renovating the Crestview clinic to accommodate more clients.
The work is expected to begin sometime in early July and last through October. Renovations will include redesigning the clinic entrance and restructuring walls to eliminate multiple corridors and expand the waiting room.
“It’s all focused on making it a more effective use of the existing space so we can better serve the clients,” Chapman said.
Work at the Fort Walton Beach clinic is scheduled to begin in November and wrap up in December.
“We have seven client bathrooms that will be renovated,” she said. “We have one autoclave room that will be renovated, and that’s because it has asbestos tile on the bottom.”
The flooring was determined to be some of the building’s original tile from the 1970s, Chapman said.
Other renovations include improvements to rooms in the Women, Infants and Children’s clinic and changes to the building’s front drive to make it more handicapped accessible.
Improvements to the lobby and lighting will be delayed, Chapman added.
Okaloosa County is working to update its asbestos policy. Chapman said she alerted county officials of the EPA requirement to conduct surveys to determine where asbestos is located.
“It doesn’t matter the age of the building. It could be a brand new building,” she said. “In any building before you demolish or renovate, you must do an asbestos survey to determine if asbestos-containing materials are a part of that structure.”
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Kari C. Barlow at 850-315-4438 or kbarlow@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @KariBnwfdn.