Three parties interested in building hospital additions

By Daily Courier Staff Thursday, June 7, 2007 http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/stories.php?id=47844

Three consortiums have said they‘re interested in building and designing hospital additions worth $200 million in Kelowna and Vernon. Qualified bidders were asked to express interest in building a $120-million tower at Kelowna General Hospital and an $80 million addition to Vernon Jubilee Hospital by Monday. The four-storey outpatient tower has the highest budget of any single project ever undertaken at KGH. At least one of the three bids is from outside B.C. Interior Health has not disclosed which companies they represent. Health officials must now review the bids and either short-list them to two, or, if they‘re all good, accept all three as contenders, said Joanne Konnert, chief operating officer for the Okanagan. The finalists must submit a formal proposal to design, build and maintain the additions in July. The winning bid will be chosen by December, said Konnert. She expects construction to begin next spring. The Kelowna project should be open by the summer of 2010 and the Vernon project by the fall of that year. The winning consortium has the option of taking over all housekeeping and maintenance services at both hospitals. The Hospital Employees Union is concerned as many as 300 jobs could be privatized, which would cheapen the quality of service because wages and benefits would drop. Konnert said it‘s too early to say whether the services will be privatized. “I understand why people are concerned,” she said. “Until we look at the responses to the proposals, I don‘t know whether they have reason to be concerned or not. “We need to … determine whether we get value for the money and that they meet or exceed the standards that now exist.”