Advertisements have been placed in Island newspapers today calling for land purchase offers for the new health facility to replace the Prince County Hospital. The submission deadline is January 22, 1999. Selection will be finalized in the spring or early summer.
Today's call for land proposals identifies several criteria. Land must be a minimum size of 40 acres and located within approximately five kilometres of the existing hospital. It must be serviceable by central water and sewer systems. The site must also be accessible from an existing municipal street or provincial highway, or by construction of a new access in future development.
The Department of Transportation and Public Works and the Department of Health and Social Services will be working closely with East Prince Health to evaluate and select the site for the new facility in accordance with a predetermined set of criteria.
The site selection committee will also consider community input from public meetings held last spring and summer as part of the recent role study process. Through that process, residents indicated they would like abundant parking with drop-off zones, easy access for all residents, proximity to an air ambulance service, and adequate land to ensure room for expansion.
Kay Lewis, Chief Planning Officer for East Prince Health, indicated the site selected must be adaptable to meet present and future needs. "When looking at sites,
we have to examine many different things that will help the new facility provide the best possible service to our clients," she said.
Further to the recent role study, the facility planning group is now beginning the process redesign stage. This phase explores new concepts in health care delivery, such as digital imaging and ambulatory care. Decisions on these new directions must be made prior to designing the space in which to house these services.
"The role study tells us what services we will be offering in a new facility. Process redesign will answer the question of how the service gets delivered," says Lewis. Choices made at this point have impacts on design, space and ultimately the cost of the new facility.
For further information on the site selection or general planning process associated with the new East Prince Health facility, call 432-2890.