Kelowna and Vernon Hospitals Project

operational

Opportunity The Kelowna General Hospital (KGH) and Vernon General Hospital (VGH) play an important role in delivering health care in the southern interior of British Columbia Vital services provided by the hospitals include emergency medicine, cardiology, oncology, pediatric chemotherapy and obstetrics. However, both facilities had sections built more than 60 years ago. In January 2007, a business case identified aging infrastructure, emergency department capacity issues and demographic pressure leading to the hospitals’ reduced ability to provide quality health care service. It was recommended that investment be made to replace and expand the aging infrastructure. Challenges The KGH construction schedule was extended by nineteen months and the VGH by seven months due to the complexity of the buildings and challenging site conditions. Innovations Jointly procuring the KGH and VGH projects into a single, larger project resulted in efficiencies such as integrating the design, build and finance teams and streamlined procurement timelines Service payments to the private partner only began after construction was completed, which provided a strong incentive for the private partner to finish construction as quickly as possible. Results The project included a six-storey, 33,500 square-metre Patient Care Tower at KGH comprised of general clinics, day surgery, outpatient services, renal dialysis services, and specialized services; as well as a rooftop helipad, bridge link to the existing hospital, a two-storey, 3,200 square-metre UBCO Clinical Academic Campus and a modernized emergency department with expanded facilities and services. The project also included a new seven-storey, 16,800 square-metre Patient Care Tower at VGH; outpatient services; an emergency department; an intensive care/cardiac care unit; a maternity/paediatric centre; a surgical suite with operating and recovery rooms, and a central supply area; and infrastructure to accommodate future expansion capacity. In addition to the two patient towers the project ended up delivering additional qualitative benefits including a stand-alone UBCO Clinical Academic Campus featuring a 180-seat lecture theatre, distance education rooms, clinical skills rooms and a medical library. The buildings were constructed using the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) approach to building sustainability and will be gold certified. “The Kelowna and Vernon Hospitals Project represents an unprecedented level of development to health care in the Interior – both in terms of patient care and jobs created. Through the KVH project alone, we were able to generate approximately 2,700 directly related construction jobs, and created infrastructure that will serve British Columbians well into the future.” - B.C. Health Minister, Michael de Jong

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