Graham Design Builders LP has signed a design build agreement for the new Stuart Lake Hospital in Fort St. James, B.C. This is Infrastructure BC’s first progressive design build contract and the hospital will be constructed for the Northern Health Authority.
“The selection of the team that will build the new hospital means another important milestone has been reached for people in Fort St. James and surrounding communities,” said Minister of Health Adrian Dix. “Residents have been waiting for years to see their hospital replaced, and we will soon see shovels go in the ground for a new, bigger, state-of-the-art facility that will deliver public health-care services for decades to come.”
The facility will be three times larger than the current hospital. It will have 27 beds, including 18 long-term care beds. There will be an expanded emergency department with two treatment rooms, a trauma bay and ambulance bay. A laboratory and diagnostic imaging will also be part of the new facility.
“The new hospital is a great investment in health care for a large region,” said Colleen Nyce, board chair, Northern Health. “Not only will the people of Fort St. James and Nak’azdli benefit from a modern facility with a network of services, but so will those whose homes are in Takla, Binche, Yekooche and Tl’azt’en as well. This much larger hospital means people can access more health services closer to home, which is good for communities in the North and good for families.”
The hospital will also have a primary care centre that will consolidate services currently being offered around Fort St. James. It will include physicians, visiting specialists, substance-use supports, home and community care, and public health.
Construction is slated to start in June 2022. The new hospital will be built on the same site as the existing one. Once complete, the existing facility will be demolished to make way for parking.
The current hospital opened in 1972 and is outdated in terms of space, functionality and technology. The hospital has 12 beds and offers emergency, acute and complex care, as well as residential care, laboratory and X-ray services, as well as mental-health and addictions counselling.
