How a Smarter Schedule Saved Veterans Affairs Medical Centre from a Six-Month Delay

In the construction industry, delays are common. But on large industrial projects, delays aren’t just inconvenient—they can mean major losses. One such medical centre was at serious risk of falling six months behind schedule. What turned things around wasn’t just more manpower or funding—it was the work of a scheduling professional who approached the problem differently.

Deepika Dayalan, a project scheduler known for her ability to spot risks early and rework complex timelines under pressure, has worked on this project. When she joined the project, the expansion had already hit several snags. Equipment deliveries were delayed, and some parts of the construction plan did not align with the actual site progress. While most teams continued pushing forward, Dayalan took a step back to examine the root of the problem: the schedule itself.

Using Primavera P6, an industry-standard scheduling tool, she ran a full diagnostic of the project’s baseline. What she found was a web of issues. Dozens of activities weren’t connected logically. Some long-lead procurement items had no clear path on the critical timeline. The schedule wasn’t matching field conditions—and it wasn’t built to adapt when things changed. Instead of applying short-term fixes, Dayalan rebuilt the logic structure of the schedule. She resequenced over 50 activities to allow parallel progress and made space for key installations to start sooner. She also brought procurement steps forward in the timeline and added buffer periods to account for inspection and delivery risks. The adjusted plan gave field teams clear, actionable paths—even when materials were delayed.

One of her most effective changes was introducing regular “lookahead” meetings between schedulers and field teams. These short sessions created a feedback loop, allowing updates from the ground to be reflected quickly in the schedule. This cut the schedule update cycle in half—from 10 days to just 5—and gave project leaders faster insight into what was working and what wasn’t. As a result, the team avoided a projected six-month delay and saved an estimated $1.1 million in potential cost overruns, including extended site expenses and penalties. More than just numbers, the project stayed on track, supporting sawmill operations that depended on the expanded capacity.

Additionally, her work also had longer-term effects. Her approach to logic-based scheduling and early risk identification was shared across her organization and influenced best practices for other time-sensitive infrastructure builds. She has contributed internally through detailed case studies, including “Recovering Healthcare Project Schedules Using Smart CPM Techniques,” and authored blog articles such as “Why Smarter Scheduling Is Vital for Medical Facility Success.” Both pieces have informed project teams working on similarly complex and high-stakes environments, particularly in healthcare and federal construction.

What made the difference wasn’t just software or reports. It was the decision to challenge assumptions and rebuild the plan around reality—not hope. Dayalan often advises her peers to not only monitor the schedule but to interrogate it. She suggests that they should ask whether it reflects what’s truly happening on site, and whether it can absorb unexpected changes.

Lastly, this medical centre project is just one example of how thoughtful scheduling can prevent large-scale issues. It also shows that behind every “on-time” project is often someone quietly reworking the plan, keeping things aligned and anticipating what’s next. And in this case, a smarter schedule didn’t just help construction stay on time—it protected the bottom line and set a new standard for how such projects can be managed.