Construction on the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital is expected to be finished by the end of June. In the Legislative Assembly Monday, Infrastructure Minister Prasad Panda said the construction, which has been ongoing since 2011, finally has a finish line in sight.
He adds the next phase of the build is expected to continue right away.
“Later this month, Alberta Infrastructure will turn over the keys to Alberta Health Services for commissioning the services in the building,” he says. “This is good news for Grande Prairie and all of [the] north.”
Health Minister Tyler Shandro says the commissioning work that comes next is a critical process that includes cleaning, installation, and testing of equipment. Shandro says a ready for use date has yet to be determined.
“It’s complex work; it has to be done right, [and] AHS is aiming to have the bulk of the work done this year, but with the impact of the pandemic we will have to wait and see for a firm date later in the process.”
Construction on the hospital began back in 2011 under Graham Construction, at which point work was expected to be done in 2015. Construction halted in September 2018 and didn’t fully ramp up again until January 2019 after Clark Builders took over the contract.