While the provincial government is promising a new hospital for Prince Albert there has been no indication on how to pay for it. (File photo/paNOW Staff)

By Glenn Hicks

P.A.'s big ticket item

How to pay for P.A.’s new hospital?

Aug 15, 2019 | 5:00 PM

How is a new hospital in Prince Albert going to be paid for? That crucial question surrounding what will be the biggest infrastructure ticket item in P.A. in recent times remains unknown.

While Premier Scott Moe has repeatedly promised a provincially-funded project, it’s still not clear what model would be used to come up with the finances. Depending on the scope of the build, the total cost would likely exceed $100 million. As an example, the new regional hospital in Moose Jaw came in at just under that price tag four years ago.

Gordon Wyant is the minister responsible for SaskBuilds, the Treasury Board Crown Corporation that leads the delivery of large infrastructure projects for public sector clients. He has not ruled out getting some federal dollars nor a possible a partnership with the private sector.

“We’re having ongoing conversations within government, not just with the Ministry of Health but with SaskBuilds, on what the funding model looks like,” Wyant told paNOW. “We haven’t given up completely on the possibility of federal funding but the project is not dependent [on that]. He said with the new facility serving First Nations and the North as well as the city of P.A. that might “play well with the federal government.”

He also did not dismiss the idea of a so-called P3 model, involving the public and private sectors. The recently completed Saskatchewan Hospital in North Battleford featured a 50 per cent equity share with Carillion developers.

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“We’ll put that lens on it and see if it makes sense …and that could be an option in terms of a recommendation to cabinet. We wouldn’t dismiss it out of hand,” Wyant said.

No timelines

There has been no timeline or even estimated cost for the venture and Wyant said it would be premature to talk about that until more details on what the scope of the project would look like. He wouldn’t be drawn on whether it made political sense for the formal go ahead to come in the lead up to next year’s provincial election.

“The premier has been pretty clear about what the province’s commitment is – to provide a facility in the city of Prince Albert – and for now that’s where we’re going to have to stay until we get more details on the scope.”

Pre-planning is continuing and earlier this year a large pre-construction budget was announced for that, but Scott Livingstone, the CEO of the Saskatchewan Health Authority was also non-committal at that time.

“It’s a decision for government [to make] … and I couldn’t say it’s a lock for next year, but I will say [the pre-planning money] is a very positive sign,” Livingstone said.

Wyant confirmed Indigenous communities would be involved in the planning.

“The full and complete consultation around planning will take all our stakeholders into account and certainly First Nations are an important component of this; and not just First Nations, but with others, including the city.”

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glenn.hicks@jpbg.ca

On Twitter:@princealbertnow