Twelve years after it was first proposed, construction of a new Stuart Lake Hospital in Fort St. James, B.C., is set to proceed to the procurement stage.
If all goes according to plan, shovels will be in the ground for the state-of-the art, $116-million structure by summer 2021.
The project will create hundreds of construction jobs and provide better health care to people in the north-central B.C. community of 5,000. It is being built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold standard.
The provincial government recently gave the green light to the project’s business plan, paving the way for the new hospital to go to tender. It will be built on the same site as the existing one and is targeted to open for patients in 2024. Once the new facility is complete, the existing structure will be demolished to make way for parking.
B.C. Premier John Horgan says the project will create approximately 450 direct and 300 indirect jobs during the construction phase.
“The new hospital will give the community an economic boost, with hundreds of new construction jobs and the highest quality health care for people in the region,” he says.
Discussions regarding the replacement of the hospital began in 2008. In September 2015, Northern Health submitted a concept plan to the Ministry of Health. A revised concept plan was approved in October 2018. The business plan that has been approved finalizes the finer details, such as scope and budget.
Horgan says it’s important to build the hospital because people in Fort St. James and surrounding communities have been left waiting without the health care they need and deserve for more than a decade.
“To have a healthy community, you must be able to provide health services. The previous government told the community for 12 years that they were going to get a new hospital, but they never acted. Our government made it a priority and we’re getting it done.”
The hospital will be three times larger than the current facility with 27 beds, including 18 long-term care beds. There will be an emergency department, a trauma and ambulance bay, a lab and diagnostic imaging.
The hospital will be home to doctors, specialists, substance-use supports, home and community care, and public health, and have a primary care centre that will consolidate services currently being offered in Fort St. James to one location, reducing the distance patients need to go for imaging and lab services.
Horgan says the current hospital, built in 1972, is outdated and inadequate. It has 12 beds and offers emergency, acute and complex care, residential care, lab and X-ray services, and mental-health and addictions counselling.
After years of delay, Horgan says he’s pleased government is getting the project done.
“This project will give the community an economic boost, with hundreds of new construction jobs and the highest quality health care for people in the region. This is all part of our plan to deliver better health care, closer to home.”
Colleen Nyce, board chair of Northern Health, says that the organization is thankful to Horgan, Health Minister Adrian Dix and the provincial government for the decision to move to the next steps in replacing the Stuart Lake Hospital and for investing in health care for the people in Fort St. James and area.
“This collaborative project was brought together by the province of B.C., the Stuart Nechako Regional Hospital District (SNRHD) , Northern Health and the people residing in the communities and area served by Stuart Lake Hospital.”
The cost of the new build is being shared between the province through Northern Health, and SNRHD, which will contribute $20 million.
Jerry Petersen, chair of the SNRHD, says that the hospital investment is tremendous news for the community and surrounding rural and First Nations populations that rely on local health services.
“A long-term commitment to health care in Fort St. James alleviates pressures in our neighbouring communities, and for that, a well-deserved thank you to the provincial government, Northern Health and regional hospital district elected officials and staff for your dedication and commitment to this project.”
Dix says many partners played a role in helping the province get to the important milestone, including the Nak’azdli Whut’en, Yekooche First Nation, Tl’azt’en Nation (Tache, Binche, Middle River) and Takla Lake First Nation.
“We are moving forward with a new hospital for people in Fort St. James and area, which will bring high-quality public health care, as well as community-based services in one location to the region for decades to come.”
The investment in the new hospital is part of a wide range of work under way to deliver comprehensive health services for people in the Northern Health region, including a redeveloped and expanded Dawson Creek and District Hospital, a new Mills Memorial Hospital in Terrace, two new urgent and primary care centres in Prince George and Quesnel, as well as progress made for a new emergency department and intensive care unit with redevelopment of the G.R. Baker Memorial Hospital in Quesnel.
Since 2017, the province has announced 13 major health capital projects to replace outdated facilities across B.C.
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