We're building and renovating

First phase of Health Capital Plan involves 22 facility projects in 15 communities

Grande Prairie and Sherwood Park are getting new hospitals, and Edson and High Prairie new health centres, as the Government of Alberta yesterday unveiled the first phase of its 2010-2013 Health Capital Plan.

Medicine Hat Regional Hospital is also scheduled for major redevelopment.

Altogether, Phase 1 encompasses 22 facility projects in 15 communities, representing more than $1.4 billion in total provincial support, which covers the planning, design and construction process of these projects.

Phase 2 of the Health Capital Plan will include details of projects in Calgary and Edmonton.

“Visiting facilities around the province and talking to patients, health care providers and planners was time well spent,” said Health and Wellness Minister Gene Zwozdesky.

“These projects contribute directly to helping fulfill our premier’s vision of having the best-performing, publicly funded health system in Canada. Now we need to conclude consultations with health professionals and administrators in Edmonton and Calgary so we can roll out Phase 2 of our Health Capital Plan.”

As previously announced, construction of a 200-bed, acute-care hospital in Grande Prairie is expected to begin in 2011 on a site near Grande Prairie Regional College.

The $520-million project will include the new Grande Prairie Cancer Centre, complete with two radiation vaults that will allow cancer patients in northern Albertan to receive radiation treatment closer to home. Some health care services at the new facility should be available by Fall 2014.

Renovations underway at the existing Queen Elizabeth II hospital, where about 150 beds are currently in use, will continue.

The capital plan includes an additional $30 million for the Strathcona Community Hospital, now under construction in Sherwood Park. The province will commit a total of $57 million to the facility, which will provide ambulatory and emergency care.

In Edson, construction will start in 2012 on a new health centre that will replace an existing facility. The $108-million project, built on a new site and scheduled to open in 2014, will provide health care services and programs to meet the needs of the community, including acute care, emergency and outpatient services. Community care services (such as mental health, addictions treatment, newborn followup, etc.) will be consolidated and expanded.

In High Prairie, a new health centre will replace an existing complex and the J.B. Wood Nursing Home. The $90-million project will be built on a new site and will include a wide range of health services such as acute care, continuing care and community health programs. Construction is anticipated to begin in Spring 2011 and be completed in Spring 2013.

Meanwhile, about $200 million will be spent to redevelop the Medicine Hat Regional Hospital, starting immediately.  Phase 1 of the redevelopment will include renovations to create additional ambulatory treatment space. Planning and preparations for the larger redevelopment will continue. That redevelopment will focus on improvements to ambulatory care, maternity services, emergency department and operating rooms. Construction is anticipated to begin in Summer 2011 and conclude in 2013.  

The Health Capital Plan also involves projects in Cochrane, Fort Saskatchewan, Lethbridge, Lloydminster, Peace River, Red Deer, St. Albert, Stony Plain and Strathmore. View complete list of projects.

Phase 1 includes $1 billion for facility maintenance, facility transition initiatives, and technology and equipment purchases and replacement, and $375 million for vaccines, health system development, diagnostic imaging strategy and electronic health records.

Ray Danyluk, Minister of Infrastructure, says the Alberta government is focused on building the right facilities, in the right part of the province, that meet community health care needs now and into the future.

“We will deliver leading edge health care facilities that are highly functional and accessible, to support the delivery of top quality health care services in Alberta,” Danyluk says.