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Three years and five months ago, the Veterans Affairs’ Portland Health Care System was in the preliminary phase of a $100 million project to seismically upgrade its two main buildings, which are deemed among the most at-risk VA facilities in the nation.

Today, there’s not much news to report.

The VA says the massive project to retrofit and renovate buildings 100 and 101 is in 鈥渇ull swing,鈥� despite a lack of approved funding by Congress. But no project plans or models exist to show the public. And no architect is under contract.

鈥淭his isn’t normal,鈥� said Bill Ulibarri, the VA’s director of project delivery for its Western region. 鈥淚t’s just, there’ve been challenges.鈥�

The VA now says a design team should be in place by February 2016, and work could take three years.

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Of the 65 people who died in the 1971 San Fernando (Sylmar) earthquake north of Los Angeles, 47 perished in the collapse of the San Fernando Veterans Affairs Hospital. The failure was said to be the result of inadequate building codes, design errors and construction defects. It led to stricter codes in California and beyond and a wide-ranging effort by the VA to modernize its facilities.

Today, the VA’s building standards meet or exceed the International Building Code, and hospitals in general are built to withstand serious catastrophes, said Juan Archilla, structural engineer with the VA’s seismic division. But buildings 100 and 101 in Portland were designed and constructed in the 1980s, before VA standards were so high.

鈥淧ortland is in a high seismic zone, which is why the Portland buildings are high-priority,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here is a plan to fix them.鈥�

More than 1,000 medical facilities and 5,500 buildings are in the VA’s inventory. In 2005, 85 buildings were included on its list for 鈥渆xtremely high (seismic) risk.鈥� Fifty remain on that list.

Naturally, many of them are in Southern California, though the at-risk area extends up the Pacific Rim to Oregon and Washington, where facilities in Eagle Point, Spokane, Roseburg and Vancouver, Wash., also have yet to receive structural remediation.

At number four on the list is Portland’s Building 100, the heavily-used main hospital building, which keeps filled an average of 110 beds across its intensive care unit and medical and surgical wards. Building 100 has eight stories and 680,392 square feet. At number 41 on the list is Building 101, which houses research activities and patient advocate offices. It has six stories and 129,692 square feet.

Both are considered by the VA to be 鈥渕ission-critical,鈥� meaning they’re intended to remain operational through a seismic event, and not merely standing. Following an earthquake, the hospital is supposed to be able to continue providing care to patients and assist with outside emergency efforts.

But these are not the only VA buildings that need attention, Ulibarri said.

鈥淭here’s a lot of need, when you line it all up,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he VA has a lot of buildings. It’s just that funding is a big factor.鈥�

An effort to retrofit the Seattle VA facility, a project much smaller in scope, wrapped up this year. Ulibarri called the looming Portland project the 鈥�800-pound gorilla in the room.鈥�

Early in the process

In May 2012, a pre-solicitation notice was issued for seismic retrofits of hospital buildings at the Portland VA Medical Center. The work would bring the two buildings up to current city code. The project was to also include utility upgrades, work on a small parking lot and demolition of the 25,000-square-foot Butler Building, which contains staff offices, training areas and some temporary housing for veterans.

The VA did not immediately provide copies of its Facilities Condition Assessment or the initial seismic study it commissioned for the Portland VA Medical Center. That 2012 study was prepared by architect Oculus Inc., which has offices in St. Louis and Dallas.

鈥淭he VA is doing what it can to retrofit buildings in (seismically at-risk) areas,鈥� said Marc Lopez, a senior project manager with Oculus, which he said has an indefinite contract with the VA. 鈥淔unding is available when it’s available, and when it’s not, it’s not.鈥�

Oculus is preparing a submittal for the Roseburg VA Medical Center, which includes structures built in 1932.

In the time since solicitations were sought, widely-read articles have appeared in The Seattle Times and The New Yorker anticipating a 鈥淏ig One鈥� hitting the Pacific Northwest. Public officials have discussed with heightened urgency the need for more seismic modernization in Portland. Last month, the Portland City Council approved a $195 million renovation 鈥� including seismic improvements 鈥� for the Portland Building, which is only 33 years old.

A spokesman for the VA’s Portland Health Care System, Daniel Herrigstad, said several firms have been interviewed for the retrofit project, and that the VA is 鈥渋n negotiations鈥� with an architect. However, he said he could not provide names of the firms.

鈥淭his is a long-term project, and we’re really early on in it,鈥� he said.