An artist's rendering of what the new Stanton Territorial Hospital might look like when it is completed in 2018. - photo illustration courtesy of the GNWT |
Ground broken on new hospital
Official ceremony kicks off construction of three-year P3 project
James Goldie
Northern News Services
Wednesday, October 14, 2015
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Just two weeks after announcing that an entirely new facility will replace Stanton Territorial Hospital, shovels were in the dirt as part of an official groundbreaking ceremony.
On Oct. 8, elected officials, hospital representatives and development partners gathered at the hospital's helipad at the rear of the building - the site of the future hospital - to officially kick off the project.
The new hospital will be 85,344 square metres - double the size of the current facility - and will have 100 inpatient beds, a larger emergency department, a chemotherapy suite, and additional space for diagnostic imaging. There will also be an 18-bed extended care facility separate from the hospital, which will include a respite bed and a palliative care bed. The new hospital will be located directly behind the current hospital on the rock outcrop, where the helicopter pad and part of Frame Lake Trail are located.
"Our new hospital will serve people from the North for the next 50 years," Health Minister Glen Abernethy told the audience, before listing some of the hospital's proposed new features.
"We believe these enhancements will also help retain and attract health professionals who wish to work within our unique Northern health system," he said.
The hospital is being built under the public-private partnership model between the GNWT and Boreal Health Partnership, a consortium that will finance, design, build and maintain it. The total capital cost of construction project is estimated to be $350 million, including additional costs incurred by the government such as lawyers and financial advisors. Although the decision to build an entirely new hospital rather than renovate existing facilities was only announced last month, finance minister Michael Miltenberger told Yellowknifer it was last year that the government began looking into the possibility of a new building.
"When this process started we had a choice - initially we were looking at an upgrade to Stanton, and then as we got into (the process) we recognized there would be benefit to having a look to see what the costs (of a new building) are," he said. "The proposed new building hit all the targets so here we are."
Miltenberger stated unequivocally that hospital would not be losing jobs as a result of the change.
"There won't be any job losses. I think literally dozens of new positions are going to be added to this hospital," he said. "Some positions may get privatized on the security/maintenance side, but overall the hospital is going to grow."
The GNWT has confirmed that private sector partners may deliver some non-clinical services. Both Miltenberger and Abernethy said they were not aware of any other locations that had been considered as possible sites for the new hospital.
"The Stanton campus, which is all this property, is GNWT-owned," said Abernethy.
"(This site is) close to some of the facilities we already have like the Stanton Clinic and the other clinics, plus we already own the land. So it seemed like a reasonable spot."
Site preparation of the rocky land is expected to begin later this month, which might include some blasting, according to Abernethy.
"I think what attracted us in the first place was the unique character of the project," said Patrick Cannon, vice-president of public-private partnership and construction at Carillion Canada, which is part of Boreal Health Partnership. "This is a really sizable project in a region like this, for the community and the surrounding communities in the North as well. A really fantastic opportunity to be involved in."
Cannon said most of the work on the project will begin in the spring.
"The main emphasis at the moment is working together with the authority in developing the design so it satisfied the requirements," he said.
Construction is expected to be completed by late 2018.
