Premier Jason Kenney making the announcement of the complettipon fo construction at the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital on Friday, June 26 (Photo: YouTube / Your Alberta)

By Shaun Penner

GPRH

Summer 2021 the target for opening of Grande Prairie Regional Hospital

Jun 26, 2020 | 2:29 PM

Premier Jason Kenney made an official announcement Friday afternoon that Grande Prairie area residents have been waiting since 2011 to hear.

“It has been a long and patient path, but ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to be here today to announce, today, the completion of construction of the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital.”

“Mayor (Bill Given), you probably thought you’d never hear those words, right?”

Provincial officials, including Infrastructure Minister Prasad Panda, Health Minister Tyler Shandro, Grande Prairie MLA Tracy Allard, Grande Prairie-Wapiti MLA Travis Toews and senior operating officer for the AHS’ North Zone Stacy Greening were at the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital on Friday to officially hand over the keys of the facility for Alberta Health Services to begin the commissioning process.

Commissioning will include the installation of equipment, training of staff, cleaning and touching up a few minor deficiencies.

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With that process to begin on July 1, when Alberta Infrastructure will officially hand over the keys to AHS, it is planned that the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital will begin accepting patients in the summer of 2021.

“This is fantastic news for people in and around Grande Prairie. We’re a big step closer to opening a new, modern hospital that will continue to provide high quality, publicly funded care to those who need it,” said Shandro. “There’s still a lot of hard work ahead for AHS to commission the hospital but I’m looking forward to celebrating the grand opening with the people of Grande Prairie next year.”

Though there is still some waiting to do for Grande Prairie residents until the hospital will be opening its doors to patients, that is nothing Peace Country residents are unfamiliar with when it comes to this project.

After the hospital was first announced in 2007, construction officially started in 2011. It was projected to be complete by the year 2015, but after a litany of delays including the dismissal of the original general contractor, Graham Construction, in 2018, it took nearly nine years to finish the project.

“You have the patience of Job,” quipped Kenney in his announcement, while also thanking area residents and officials for their “amazing patience.”

Minister Toews took time on Friday to thank Clark Builders (who took over the hospital contract following the dismissal of Graham Construction), as well as Minister Panda for getting over this major hurdle in the project.

“Since Minister Panda has really taken the reigns, the project has really gone well, and the contractors have delivered on time, so we’ve been appreciative of that.”

Along with delays, the project also came in at a price tag of $850.3 million, which is more than double the original estimate. The latest cost estimate before Friday had come in a nearly $763 million.

“Obviously, this is a hospital that has seen a significant cost over-run,” said Toews.

The hospital stands nearly 680,000 square feet in size, and feature 240 patient beds. The hospital will feature a full range of health care services, including a new cancer care centre with two radiation treatment areas, surgical facilities and emergency services. It will also boast a new health care training facility for Grande Prairie Regional College.

“When the doors open, I am pretty sure the people of Northwestern Alberta will agree, that it was all worth the wait, said Kenney. “This is a state-of-the-art facility health care facility.”

You can see Friday’s press conference in its entirety below: