By Shaun Penner

GPRH

Grande Prairie Regional Hospital slated to open December 4: AHS

Aug 19, 2021 | 3:53 PM

Alberta Health Services and Alberta Health say in a release that the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital will be opening to the public on December 4, a decade after construction began on the project.

This news comes as AHS says they are continuing to work with Alberta Infrastructure on the second phase of the facility’s construction, which includes the completion of a 28-bed mental health unit and a 32-bed medical unit.

Construction there, they say, should completed this summer.

AHS says all acute clinical programing in Grande Prairie will be located at the new hospital by that date, while the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital will continue to provide some healthcare services. The exact scope of those services has yet to be determined.

“I’m very pleased Grande Prairie Regional Hospital will be opening soon and all at once,” said Grande Prairie MLA Tracy Allard.

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“This will mean no duplication of services between the two sites, eliminating the need to move patients between the new hospital and the QEII. It’s what’s best for area residents.”

Construction on the new hospital began back in 2011. It was initially hoped construction would be completed in 2015, however the project faced several delays, including the halting of work in 2018 as the project changed general contractors.

It was finally announced in June of 2020 that the first phase of construction had finally been completed and was then turned over to AHS for cleaning and commissioning on July 1 of that year.

“AHS took possession of the new facility last summer and our teams have been working hard ordering and installing equipment and furniture, testing and training staff on the new building and medical systems, and completing a detailed cleaning of the whole building,” said Stacy Greening, AHS Senior Operating Officer for Grande Prairie.

“This stage of the project is crucial as it ensures everything is safe and working properly before being used to provide patient care.”

The hospital will have a new cancer centre with two radiation vaults, making Grande Prairie the fifth city in Alberta to offer radiation therapy and the first in the north.

A wide range of other healthcare services will also be provided at the new 243-bed hospital, including surgical, critical care and emergency services.

“The facility will have only single inpatient rooms, including medical, surgical and rehabilitation, intensive care, cardiac care, obstetrics, neonatal intensive care and pediatric beds,” AHS says in the release.

The hospital also includes an education facility in partnership with Grande Prairie Regional College, for the training of nurses and other healthcare professionals.

The hospital parkade includes 1,100 parking stalls, with an additional 250 surface stalls.

“The new hospital will be more than a new space with new equipment,” says Greening. “It will be about providing care that is meaningful and important to people. We want to make sure everyone feels safe, welcome, included and respected at the hospital, regardless of their reasons for being there.”

AHS says the final price tag on the hospital comes in at $850-million.