(file photo/paNOW Staff)

By Jaryn Vecchio

Site Work

‘This is really exciting’: Victoria Hospital expansion project takes step closer to construction starting

Feb 7, 2023 | 12:30 PM

Site preparation work is starting on the Victoria Hospital expansion project in Prince Albert.

Over the next couple of months, construction crews will be undergoing geotechnical drilling, utility work, and building a new parking lot to replace the current parking that will be lost during the work.

This project, which is expected to cost well over $300 million, will increase the number of beds at the hospital from 173 to 242, add a new acute care tower, replace the existing adult mental health space, and increase the size of the emergency department.

Cody Barnett, the executive director of the Victoria Hospital Foundation, told paNOW this is exciting news that people have been waiting years to hear.

“Even if it is just prep work, I know people have been anticipating the work starting,” he said. “This is a project the community’s been pushing for almost 20 years.”

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The province is covering 100 per cent of the construction costs. Funding for new technology, which will include an MRI machine, and furniture will be community funded with the Health Foundation planning on holding different events and fundraisers in the future to help cover the costs.

Barnett added all of these plans will greatly decrease the number of people who need to travel to another city to receive health care.

“That’s critical for the community,” he said. “This is a provincial hospital, this means more people in Prince Albert, central and northern Saskatchewan can get the care they need in Prince Albert.”

Meanwhile, the Prince Albert Grand Council (PAGC) has partnered with the province and the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) on this project.

They will provide feedback on the design of the facility.

PCL Construction Management, which is currently overseeing the design phase of the project, will also engage with local and Indigenous businesses and trades to deliver services for the project.

“This phase of the project is important to inform the next steps of the design for the new future tower, and planned renovations, for the Victoria Hospital,” Michelle Mula, SHA interim vice president of infrastructure, information and support said. “We are excited for this work to progress which will bring us one step closer to expanded services and beds for those needing acute care in the North.”

PCL is still bidding on undertaking the actual construction work with the province expected to announce whether they’ve accepted their bid or another company’s bid in the near future.

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Jaryn.Vecchio@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow