The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) Redevelopment project has reached a new milestone.
Premier Robert Ghiz said engineering and design work on the redevelopment will begin shortly. Phase One of the Redevelopment project is anticipated to cost approximately $52.23 million in 2008 dollars.
“This is an important achievement as the project has moved closer to the day when the public will see the hospital undergo a significant transformation,” Premier Ghiz said. “I am committed to ensuring Islanders have access to the highest-quality healthcare and, as the province’s largest referral hospital, the QEH is a vital piece of our overall healthcare system.”
Rob Philpott, Executive Director of the QEH, said Master Program and Master Plan for QEH Redevelopment has been completed and Functional Programming has been completed for Phase One of the project.
Phase One of the redevelopment was scheduled for implementation over the next seven years and contains three separate stages, including Emergency and Support Services, Ambulatory Care and Day Surgery and an addition to the Cancer Treatment Centre. Proposals covering the design services required for the Emergency and Support Services stages were invited from local consultants and have been evaluated.
Engineering and design work will also be conducted to accommodate an addition to the Cancer Treatment Centre to house a new linear accelerator. A second linear accelerator would be required in the next three years to meet the patient wait time guarantee for radiation treatment.
“The Queen Elizabeth Hospital was designed as an acute care hospital in the late seventies,” Mr. Philpott said. “Since that time, major changes have taken place in patient care needs, including the fact that we have an aging population and new health care delivery methods to meet those needs.”
Mr. Philpott said, “Hospital staff and management consulted with government to discuss required changes through renovation and additional infrastructure if services are to be delivered efficiently now and in the future.”
Coles Associates in association with William Nycum and Associates won the competitive bid process to become the project’s engineering and architectural design firm. Coles Associates has extensive experience with complex addition/renovation projects and will involve a speciality consultant for Emergency Room Planning/Design and is partnered with William Nycum and Associates to complete the design. William Nycum and Associates Architects are very experienced in hospital design and construction. Coles Associates will also involve mechanical and electrical engineers who are currently involved with hospital projects in Ontario and Nova Scotia.
With this announcement, design of the Emergency Department addition and support services will start during this summer with a plan to begin construction in mid 2008.