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National Construction Award Won for Doey's House

Brechbill & Helman Construction Company, Inc. of Chambersburg, PA has recently received recognition for the National ABC Excellence in Construction Award for the Hospice of Washington County (HWC)-Doey’s House in Hagerstown, MD.

 

Consisting of 25,000-member companies across the U.S, the national awards competition recognizes outstanding quality and innovation in merit shop construction projects. The National Associated Builders and Contractors honored B&H for second place in the category: Institutional Construction, project less than $10 million at the 29th Annual Excellence in Construction Awards ceremony on March 27th, 2019 in Long Beach, CA. 

 

In June of 2016, the owners of Hospice of Washington County Inc., and Brechbill & Helman Construction Co Inc. signed a contract for the construction of Doey’s House with the team consisting of Architect:  Bushey Feight Morin Inc., Mechanical Engineering: CJL, Civil: Fox Associates and Frederick Seibert,  Structural:  Matonak & Snyder Associates, Landscaping:  Donna Brightman, Geotech and Testing:  TRIAD  

 

Doey’s House is a 12-bed inpatient hospice with expansion capabilities to 16-bed and is the only active licensed hospice in Washington County, Maryland. The home is named in honor of Doris “Doey” Glessner. Her son, Neal Glessner, along with the HWC Board of Directors inspired the support of the community to bring a hospice house to the community.

 

“What made this project so extraordinary is that the 16,530-square-foot hospice house cost $4.9 million and was built with community support and in-kind donations which include the design and construction administration, material suppliers and construction workers,” stated Gregg Thompson of Brechbill and Helman.

 

In the early morning hours of November 21, 2016, the unthinkable occurred. At 80% completion, an unfortunate tragedy struck when a fire erupted and destroyed the entire structure. Firetrucks and EMS crew arrived shortly before 3 a.m. and approximately 80 firemen battled wind-driven flames for three hours to get it under control.

 

“Despite the set-backs of the lengthy site investigation, wintry weather mix of snow, ice and freezing temperatures the Hospice board, contractors, architects, engineers and volunteers were all committed to donating their time and resources to rebuild as it was designed, once more,” stated Mr. Thompson. “The resolve and tireless dedication of a community, construction workers and volunteers were impeccable. Undeterred by having to start completely over from the concrete floor; our company delivered the 16,400 SF just a few months past the initial completion date.”

 

“We congratulate Brechbill and Helman Construction Company, Bushey Feight Morin Inc. and all the contractors on this extraordinary win,” stated HWC’s Ernesto Lopez. “This was a win for the entire community. Because of the efforts of the HWC’s board, contractors, architects, engineers, donors and volunteers, we now have Doey’s house. The only hospice house in Washington County, and we have served over 200 patients and their families in the first year. Thank you to all for helping HWC expand their end-of-life care for the community.”