Lakes District Hospital – That’s a Wrap
Emergency entrance of the new Lakes district Hospital – image courtesy Northern Health
Burns Lake, BC – Six months ahead of schedule, the Lakes District Hospital and Health Centre project is, officially, complete.
The new hospital has 16 beds and provides acute care and emergency services, diagnostic imaging, lab services and pharmacy. A medical clinic offers primary, outpatient and acute care, along with the delivery of mental health and addictions and public health, as well as home- and community-care services .
It is a two-storey building totalling approximately 6,100 square metres (65,000 square feet). The hospital is a green and energy-efficient facility designed to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Gold certification.
“The design-build partner PCL Westcoast Constructors Inc. completing the project ahead of schedule and under-budget shows a strong commitment to the people of Burns Lake and the surrounding area,” said Jerry Peterson, Chair of the Stuart Nechako Regional Hospital District. “The patient rooms include remarkable views of Burns Lake and are larger to allow for more comfort when family and friends visit. It is a wonderful new addition to the community of Burns Lake.
The project involved moving the old nurses residence, and excavation of the site started in April of 2013. Actual construction started in January 2014 and the facility was pretty much finished in December of 2014.
While it opened to the public in February of this year, it isn’t until now that Northern Health can say the project has been completed. There is some minor landscaping to be done, but that will take place in the spring of 2016 at which time there will be a community celebration.
The $55 million dollar cost of the project was shared by the Provincial Government and Stuart Nechako Regional Hospital District.
Comments
So, they built a hospital for the same price tag as for a theatre in PG. Puts things into perspective.
The $55 million dollar cost of the project was shared by the Provincial Government and Stuart Nechako Regional Hospital District?
So where did the Stuart Nechako Regional Hospital District get their share of the cost? From the Provincial Government?
Good for the region to have a new hospital as it was undoubtedly needed, but why suggest that the cost was split when the money likely comes out of the same pocket, haha!
Now if they could only find Doctors and nurses that want to work in Burns Lake. 2 weeks to get a doctors appointment is a complete joke. i know Burns Lake might not be the ideal place to live a and work. But if i am coming out of med school with a mountain of debt. Small town BC would be my choice. One would make a ridiculous salary with living expenses at half of what it takes to live in the Okanogan or the lower mainland
Guess you to pay property tax Hart Guy? Or maybe you just don’t notice the regional hospital charge you pay every year. It’s pretty significant. All homeowners pay them.
don’t pay property tax that is…
In the end, it does not matter whether the money comes from the local community, the province or the feds. All the money to pay for the construction and other costs of the building and the operation of the building as well as the cost of the services provided by the people working in the building come from the local, the provincial and the federal taxpayers plus, in the case of BC, the payments made to MSP by those who live in BC.
It seems that larger patient rooms are the signs of the times for new hospitals. That will come in handy in the future when medical services may become too expensive and we can put an extra patient into the rooms.
Thinking ahead for potential changes is always helpful when one builds what appears to be very fixed functional spaces.
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