Premier Brad Wall was at the Saskatchewan Hospital Thursday to announce that the government was moving ahead to replace the 100-year-old facility.
The premier announced the province was providing $8 million immediately to Prairie North Health Region to begin work on detailed design for the new Saskatchewan Hospital, with construction to begin on the new hospital no later than 2013.
According to the province, once the detailed design is finished, tendering and construction will begin. Prairie North Health Region CEO David Fan estimates the detailed design should take about a year to complete, with tenders to go out in late 2012 and construction expected to begin by the spring of 2013.
It is expected the completed new hospital should be ready to accept patients by early 2015.
The replacement facility will be built adjacent to the current hospital and will be designed to include more private rooms and modern amenities compared to the current facility. The new hospital will house 188 patients and its services will include psychiatric rehabilitation, forensic appraisal and monitoring.
According to Premier Wall, the cost of the new hospital will be in the range of $100 million.
The announcement was made before a large contingent of dignitaries, staff and patients at Saskatchewan Hospital on Thursday. The announcement follows previous commitments made by the NDP government in 2006 to move forward with the initial design, followed in 2009 by a funding commitment by the Saskatchewan Party government for rescoping of the project.
More details and reaction to the announcement to come later in the News-Optimist.
