Iqaluit (May 31/04) - The new hospital being built in Iqaluit is giving everyone involved something to sing praises about.

For health minister Levinia Brown, the Qikiqtani General Hospital will make it easier to recruit and retain health care workers in a territory that aches for stable, easy-to-access health care.

Peter Keenainak, president and chief executive officer of the Qikiqtaaluk Corp., stands next to the conceptual drawing of the new hospital in Iqaluit. It is expected to be built by December 2006. - Kathleen Lippa/NNSL photo

Leona Aglukkaq, finance minister, sees more health care dollars staying in Nunavut, thanks to the bigger, newer hospital.

For those involved in construction, the hospital means lots of good paying jobs.

"Provisions have been built into the construction contract to encourage Inuit employment," said Peter Kilabuk, community and government services minister.

Terry Gray is a senior technologist with FSC Architects and Engineers, the Iqaluit company managing the construction of the hospital. They also did the conceptual design of the hospital, which was on display last Wednesday.

Gray said FSC has been waiting for a new Iqaluit hospital to become reality since 1986.

"Site development will begin very shortly," Gray said on Wednesday. "The pile foundations are almost completed, and you should see the super-structure -- the steel frame and that sort of thing -- going up by mid-August."

The Qikiqtani Hospital, being built next to the Baffin Regional Hospital, is the largest construction project in Nunavut history.

A development agreement between all involved parties was signed Wednesday at the Nunavut Legislative Assembly.

Those who signed the agreement included the Nunavut government, the Qikiqtaaluk Corp., Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. and the project's engineers and constructors.

The Qikiqtani Hospital will cost approximately $46 million to build, and according to Harry Flaherty, project director with Qikiqtaaluk Corp., the hospital is expected to be completed by December 2006.

The Qikiqtaaluk Corp., which owns the hospital, received financial support from Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. through Atuqtuarvik Corp.