“This was really the bulk of the project,” says Ledcor project manager Phil Long, as 20,000 square feet of new hospital space is added to the Cranbrook-based facility. It serves as a regional referral centre for doctors and 80,000 residents in the East Kootenay area.
Correspondent
CRANBROOK
Premier Gordon Campbell officially opened on Sept. 29 the East Kootenay Regional Hospital’s (EKRH) new addition here, which is phase two of a six-phase contract valued at $28 million landed by Ledcor Construction based in Kelowna in 2005.
“This was really the bulk of the project,” says Ledcor project manager Phil Long, as 20,000 square feet of new hospital space is added to the Cranbrook-based facility. It serves as a regional referral centre for doctors and 80,000 residents in the East Kootenay area.
The first phase of the work, which started in July and finished in September 2005, consisted of relocating the existing hospital’s front entrance, some demolition work and moving medical files to a basement location. The entrance had to be moved in order to facilitate the second phase addition.
The addition to the one-storey hospital includes a new emergency department and a state-of-the art ambulatory care centre for patients who receive treatment on an outpatient basis and some work in the diagnostic imaging area. In addition, two new penthouses were built to accommodate the hospital’s mechanical needs. At the opening, Premier Campbell said: “Across the province, new and expanded health facilities are being planned, are undergoing construction and are opening as part of a government commitment to modernize health facilities across B.C.”
Long says that over the first two weeks of October, the staff and departments will begin moving into the newly-finished addition. As the departments and staff vacate the old areas, Ledcor will move in to complete phase three to six of the renovations that are spread around the existing hospital.
“When emergency moves into phase two, then we move into the old area, strip it out and remove any asbestos and put in new walls, ceiling and layout,” he says, adding this revamped area will be used for diagnostic purposes.
As well as refurbishing service and clinical areas within the hospital, Ledcor is upgrading hospital rooms for fire and smoke safety and also providing infrastructure for enhanced services in the rooms. The upgrade of the 70 designated rooms was half complete at the time of the addition opening.
The job’s major challenge has come from Cranbrook’s winter. “It has been freezing, sunny, rainy, and snowy – all in the same day,” says Long. As wet weather occurred, the glacial till turned to a muddy quagmire that made work difficult. “Mud slabs had to be cast in place as soon as our excavation level was reached,” he says.
Scheduling was also a challenge since the hospital had to remain operative. Some work was carried out on over-time hours or holidays, when the hospital was not as busy.
“But, the hospital has been very obliging,” he says, as staff have worked with crews and moved patients to allow work to progress. All phases of the contract will complete in May 2007.
The EKRH has come in on budget (total project cost is $32 million) and is on schedule. Long credits the project’s success to a team effort by Ledcor superintendent Brad Schmucker, EKRH’s manager of clinical services Pat Hall, and the Interior Health Authority’s project manager Martin Deheers. Major trades on the project were:
Keldon Electric (Kelowna), Rambow Mechanical (Kelowna), Cranbrook Interior Woodwork, Cranbrook Flooring, Flynn Canada (Surrey), Keith Panel Systems (Vancouver), Competition Glass (Kelowna), B.A. Blacktop (Cranbrook), Sunco Drywall Ltd. of Kelowna and Gates Painting in Kamloops.
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