Pittsburgh halts work on new UPMC Presbyterian hospital tower

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The city of Pittsburgh has abruptly halted work on the new billion-dollar UPMC Presbyterian hospital tower.

Thursday afternoon, the city's Department of Permits, Licenses and Inspections issued a stop work order, idling some 120 construction workers.

Maria Montaño, the city's communications director, said UPMC did not have the required construction permits and will need to get them before work can resume.

"It is our job in city government to ensure the safety of workers and citizens. UPMC did not have the required permits for the work it was doing, and when that was discovered, our inspector issued a stop order," Montaño said. 

The tower has been under construction for more than a year. It is designed to be a 17-story, 900,000-square-foot state-of-the-art hospital.

UPMC said the general contractor and Pittsburgh Building Trades Council are working to get this resolved expeditiously.