New Hospital Approved For Ft. St. John

Tuesday, April 22, 2008 02:16 PM

Architectural rendering of new facility for Fort St. John

Fort St. John, B.C. - The Province has announced approval of a new hospital and residential care facility for Fort St. John.

The new 15,000-square-metre, 55-bed hospital will provide 11 more acute care beds for the Fort St. John region and will include a 6,600-square-metre building for centralized food and laundry services.

A new 123-bed residential care facility for seniors on the same site will share services with the hospital to increase operational efficiency. Both facilities will be built on 40 acres that was transferred to Northern Health by the City of Fort St. John. Completion is expected in 2011 with construction starting in spring 2009.

Health Minister George Abbott and representatives from Northern Health, the Peace River Regional Hospital District and the City of Fort St. John made the official announcement this afternoon.

“A new Fort St. John Hospital will be the first hospital replacement of this size in the North and the first time a hospital and a residential care facility will be built as a single public-private partnership,” said Abbott.

Fort St. John Hospital works with hospitals and health facilities across the northeast and currently serves a population of about 69,000, compared to around 4,000 people when the hospital was built in 1962. The northeast population is projected to increase by 21 per cent to approximately 84,000 by 2028.

The Peace River Regional Hospital District recently approved funding up to $98 million dollars of the estimated $268 million dollar price tag for the facility. The final cost will depend on the bids that are submitted as result of the request for proposal process and the market conditions throughout the competitive selection process.

The Province will be contributing $179 million for the project. The new facility will be pursued as a public-private partnership.

The new hospital will be a centre for pathology, radiology, clinical support and pharmacy services. It will be linked to Kelowna General Hospital for support in psychiatric consultation, and thoracic and plastic surgery. The new Fort St. John Hospital will also be a training site for medical students in the Northern Medical Program.

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Posted on Tuesday, April 22, 2008 02:16 PM in News by 250 News

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Comments

Posted by: Anastasia on April 22 2008 2:36 PM

Congratulations Fort St. John!! about time and well deserved!!

Posted by: sportsman on April 22 2008 3:13 PM

It is about time. The old hospital in FS John is out of date, too small for the surrounding areas. Good to see the North getting some major improvements. Now all FS John needs to do is fix their streets...L

Posted by: Andyfreeze on April 22 2008 7:00 PM

Any money spent on hospitals and healthcare is a GOOD thing!!
Get it done!

Posted by: lunarbase on April 22 2008 7:35 PM

Yes but it is going to be a P3 partnership. So your tax dollars are used to build the facility, yet not own it, and the private partner gets a amount of money to run the facility. So if they are not making enough profits, they cut things, like service, till they make enough profits. Yet we will still staff it with a bunch of expensive administrators.

Posted by: diplomat on April 22 2008 8:17 PM

A P3 is NOT a privatization, which occurs if a government decides to sell a service or other public asset to the private sector. In a P3 arrangement, the government ultimately retains ownership of the asset with the private partner delivering the service or managing the asset over a clearly defined time line for an agreed upon set price or fee.

Posted by: owl on April 22 2008 8:17 PM

http://thetyee.ca/Views/2005/10/27/HospitalBoondoggles

The article speaks for itself ...

I don't know why people keep chasing that elusive pot at the end of the rainbow.

Posted by: lunarbase on April 22 2008 8:38 PM

Yes the government retains ownership, after the 35 year contract ends. So basically you get back a building that is in need of many reno's. Anybody who believes the nice sounding P3 Partnerships and how they are supposedly are so great, have not done their research. Just because it has a cute catch phrase doesn't mean it is.

Posted by: Andyfreeze on April 22 2008 9:03 PM

Just did some reading on P3's lunarbase.
Your right,I can see where it could be a bit spooky if not properly managed!
Owl's article says a lot.

Posted by: seamutt on April 22 2008 11:11 PM

Also with a P3 money is more expensive,a private company cannot borrow money as cheaply as government.

Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on April 23 2008 7:57 AM

So, lets cancel the project until there is more money available? Who cares how it is financed. If you want a new car you pay way too much in financing - so why is this any different?

At least with a 40 acre site, there should be enough room to put in a proper helicopter landing area.