VERNON JUBILEE HOSPITAL PATIENT CARE TOWER

KELOWNA – A construction contract for the expansion of Kelowna and Vernon Hospitals has been awarded to Infusion Health, Health Services Minister George Abbott announced today.

The new seven-storey, 16,800 square-metre (approximately 181,500 square-foot) Vernon Jubilee Hospital (VJH) patient care tower will be situated next to the existing hospital to the east of the current emergency entrance. It will consolidate and modernize a series of programs and services to improve health service delivery, including new operating rooms and shelled-in floors for future patient beds. The VJH expansion is being built under a single project management structure in conjunction with a parallel expansion to facilities at Kelowna General Hospital (KGH).

Highlights of the Vernon expansion include:

• New expanded and modernized emergency department with high visibility ground level access.
• Consolidated and centralized new operating rooms.
• New maternity/paediatrics ward with direct link to operating rooms.
• Building capacity with two shelled-in floors for future patient beds.
• Separate outpatient (day procedure) entrance from upper parking lot and new expanded outpatient program.
• Expanded and modernized facilities to provide a better patient experience and improved patient flows.
• Full integration with the existing hospital.
• New and more efficient central sterilization services.
• New ambulance garage.
• Vacated space in current hospital will leave space for other programs and services.

Construction schedule: The project will proceed using a phased approach with an adjusted timeline of 2011 completion, one year later than the originally projected 2010 completion.

The phasing of construction is being done for the following reasons:

• The magnitude of the project has grown since the original announcement with the addition of two shelled-in floors for future capacity at VJH.
• Construction of the new facilities will take place concurrently with normal day-to-day hospital operations at both sites, and will need to be integrated with existing infrastructure.
• By building in phases, the builders can reduce the impacts of construction while ensuring existing facilities remain fully functional, safe and operating efficiently, thus ensuring patients continue to receive the highest level of care.
• Construction cost:

The value of the construction project is $432.5 million, an increase over the original estimate of $200 million when the project was first announced in May 2007. The primary reason is the increase in the size of the construction project to reflect the growing needs for more state-of-the-art health care services in the Okanagan. The project now includes the following added benefits to patient care:

· Two additional shelled-in floors at both VJH and KGH to build capacity and accommodate future patient beds.

· An increase in size from the original estimated 12,542 square metres (135,000 square feet) to 16,862 square metres (181,500 square feet) at VJH and from 17,373 square metres (187,000 square feet) to 33,445 square metres (360,000 square feet) at KGH.

· $15.5 million in additional equipment.

· A brand new emergency department at KGH, quadruple the size of the current emergency department, and built into the ground floor of the new patient care tower (the original plan called for renovation and expansion of the existing emergency department).

· A new free-standing building for the UBC medical school campus and a new multi-level parkade at KGH.

Benefits of Infusion Health full-site facilities management agreement:

In addition to constructing the new facilities, Infusion Health will be responsible for preserving the integrity of the structures over the next 30 years. Infusion Health will manage plant maintenance across both sites, which will provide a seamless integration of the systems at both old and new facilities.

The benefits of a whole site solution for the new expanded and existing facilities are:

· An integrated single plant maintenance service on each site.

· Consistent standards and services across the whole sites and between sites.

· A single help desk service for plant maintenance services.

· A single set of operational polices and processes across the sites.

· Clarity of accountability for systems and services which are present throughout all buildings (e.g. fire alarm system, nurse call system, pipe work).

Plant maintenance is a critical component the public private partnership because it makes certain the private partner is accountable for ensuring the facilities are built to the highest quality standards and their mechanical systems function to the highest standards for the life of the buildings.

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Don Quixote Note: The initial cost of the project is estimated to be $200 million. The KGH expansion is estimated to cost $119 million, while the Vernon Jubilee Hospital expansion is estimated to be $81 million. However, the final cost of the overall project is dependent on the bids that are submitted as result of the Request for Proposal process and the market conditions throughout the competitive selection process. The Province will be contributing $120 million for the project, with the remainder identified in the regional hospital districts capital plans.