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New York City-headquartered firms Plaza Construction and Central Consulting & Contracting are extending their alliance to Florida. The companies will provide 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.

"Healthcare systems nationwide are becoming increasingly overwhelmed with coronavirus-related cases, from testing to quarantine, with limited space to treat patients effectively," said Richard Simone, CEO and president of Central Consulting & Contracting. "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."

Simone tells GlobeSt.com that his company is not at liberty to disclose which healthcare systems and hospitals it is working with.

"The plan is for the partnership to work with a number of healthcare systems throughout Florida as well as in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic," he says.

Central Consulting recently began working in South Florida to serve the growing region experiencing heavy demand for new and expanding medical facilities. 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.

The companies could use assistance from the states in their mission, says Brad Meltzer, president of Plaza Construction in prepared comments. "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 US 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' 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.

"We have a long-standing history of successful projects throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Southeast within a number of market sectors including medical," Meltzer tells GlobeSt.com. "Our innovative approach of services encompasses everything from preconstruction to project delivery and has been applied to notable projects such as research institutes, hospitals, rehabilitation and advanced training centers, blood production and research facilities and more."