With the financial arrangements drawing to a close, the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group (ROHCG) is hoping to start construction of the $143- million replacement of its Royal Ottawa Hospital sometime in early December.
BY IRWIN RAPOPORT
DCN CORRESPONDENT
With the financial arrangements drawing to a close, the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group (ROHCG) is hoping to start construction of the $143- million replacement of its Royal Ottawa Hospital sometime in early December.
“We’re hoping to break ground in less than (two weeks),” said George Langill, CEO of the ROHCG. “Site preparation is beginning to prepare the construction site. Atwo-year process is what the current estimates are, so late 2006/early 2007 (is when the building should be completed).”
Along with the William Osler Hospital in Brampton, which is reportedly nearing its financial close, the ROH is the second of two approved public/private partnerships for hospital construction by the Ontario government.
The three-storey hospital, which will include a seven-storey tower, is being built by the Health Infrastructure Co. of Canada, a consortium consisting of: Borealis Infrastructure Management Inc., Carillion Canada, EllisDon Corporation, the Oxford Properties Group, Parkin Architects Ltd. and Adamson Associates Architects.
The Dominion Bond Rating Service is currently reviewing the financing plan for the ROH P3 project.
“It will be a facility that combines both service delivery to the eastern Ontario region, as well as education and research under one roof,” said Langill.
He added that the final design for the new hospital has essentially been approved, with sign-offs having been given for the all the schematics and sketch plans that layout the basic structure around which the mechanical and electrical systems will be overlaid.
The 400,000-square-foot building, specializing in mental health care, will house 188 patient beds, provide a fullrange of out-patient and outreach services, and a large teaching and education area. The tower will house the University of Ottawa’s Ottawa Institute of Mental Health Research.
According to the contract, the hospital will be transferred to the ROHCG in full after 22 years. While the hospital provides the medical services, the consortium will operate all of the facility and support management services. In terms of the future, Langill is confident that P3s will be norm for many projects in Ontario.
“We expect the government will have no choice but to look at this as an option because the health infrastructure needs in Ontario grossly exceed the government’s commitment to capital,” he said, “and unless the government increases it by over 1,000 per cent, they are going to have to find other ways of financing these facilities.”
Furthermore, Langill believes that the impact will be felt by existing facilities in terms of their ability to meet current needs, which does not include the needs of an expanding population and the need to accommodate modern technologies and imaging.
“We’re still very much behind in Ontario from what the standards are and so it’s all part and parcel of the package,” he said.
Langill says the P3 process is a good deal for the taxpayer, noting that his organization did a value-formoney assessment as part of the approval process for the P3 decision.
“It showed that over the life of the facility and the P3,” he said, “it would be cheaper than going a traditional route. It would be more timely and will result in the likelihood of a better project.”
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