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Final payment being withheld until completion

State officials are withholding millions of dollars in payment from the contractor of the new Broughton Hospital until the project is completed.

The amount of the final payment will be around $6 million, said Mark Benton, North Carolina deputy secretary of health services for the Department of Health and Human Services.

The state has paid out $119,728,812 of the $130.8 million project to the contractor, Archer Western Contractors, according to information from the state. The balance on the project is $11.07 million.

On Tuesday, Benton said the projected completion date is still May. He said when everything is done and the state has made sure things are working properly, such as heating, security and the security doors are locking correctly, then the state will make its final payment to AWC.

Benton said DHHS is committed to getting the new Broughton Hospital open as quickly as possible and staying within budget, and that it will hold the contractor responsible until it is done.

The new Broughton Hospital has been plagued with problems and delays.

Construction was started in early 2012 and had a projected completion date of September 2014. The completion date has since been revised six times, according to the state.

The state fired AWC in April, citing the delays and saying it had lost trust in the contractor. The project needed a contractor to complete the work.

State ups oversight on project (Travelers)