With toy shovels in hand, members of the Government of Saskatchewan, along with families and small children, recently celebrated the future Children’s Hospital of Saskatchewan, ushering in a new generation of provincial health care services.

A $235.5-million government investment will result in a 176-bed maternal and children’s hospital to be completed in 2017 and located next to the Royal University Hospital on the University of Saskatchewan campus in Saskatoon.

“Our government is fulfilling our promise to build a state-of-the-art maternal and children’s hospital,” said Premier Brad Wall during the ceremony. “This place of hope and healing will support high-quality health care for our province’s children and families.”

In addition to innovative medical services for women and children from a neonatal intensive care unit down to a children’s outpatient clinic, the facility will include a pediatric and adult emergency department.

Communities across Saskatchewan helped to conceive the unique design concepts, such as colourful wall murals with prairies and lakes.

From classroom-based design sessions and input from pediatric physicians to mail-in ideas from schools across Saskatchewan, the design team received hundreds of collages and room ideas, along with a list of favourite colours, images, shapes and animals from children ages five to 18.

“From our earliest days working with government, this has been a journey well worth taking,” said Saskatoon Regional Health Authority chair Jim Rhode. “A journey to outline just what services will be in the new hospital, the funding needed and hiring the right people to help us design a state-of-the-art facility.”

Construction on the main building of the structure will begin in 2015. At the moment, the initial building phase includes piling and foundation work.