Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/124234
courtesy Niagara Health SYstem Niagara Health Complex and Walker Family Cancer Centre by Laurie Jones hen the Niagara Health Complex and Walker Family Cancer Centre opened on March 24, 2013, it was indeed a cause for celebration. With a slogan stating, "One Million Square Feet of Care," it is the largest newbuild hospital project ever to be completed in the province of Ontario. The 970,000-square-foot complex will house significant high-tech services that were not previously available in the area. "This hospital will be replacing the St. Catharines General Hospital, which is over 100 years old, and an ambulatory and administrative building called the Ontario Street site," says Gloria Kain, chief planning and development officer for the Niagara Health System. She adds it is exciting for St. Catharines, Thorold, and Niagara-on-the-Lake to have new programs for a number of medical needs in the combined community catchment. "Cardiac catheterization is a program that we are partnering with Hamilton in developing. The longer-term mental health services that used to be part of the psychiatric hospital beds in Hamilton have been divested to this new facility." The Niagara Health Complex will also offer acute and critical inpatient services, surgical services, women, babies and children's health, emergency and ambulatory services under one roof. The state-of-the-art facility has a capacity for up to 399 beds, and of those, 80 per cent are single rooms. "This design will significantly help as infection control will be much easier with the separate rooms," says Kain. "Hospital acquired illnesses are always a concern, so we have installed sinks for hand sanitizing in every patient room and other areas W Niagara Health Complex and Walker Family Cancer Centre p48-55Niagara Health.indd 49 for staff and visitors." She adds that the operating suites "This is a safeguard to ensure the conare lined with Corian walls, which also help with infection cessionaire maintains the infrastruccontrol. "This product is non-porous and virtually seamless ture and corrects design flaws that so the cleanability is greatly improved over plaster or paint. come up that are beyond the hospital's We went with poured epoxy on the floors for cleaning and control." When the project began durability." in 2006, Cannon Design With a $759-million price was brought on board to tag on this project, costs were act as the planning and covered through the Province compliance team. The of Ontario, private funding team worked directly with and local fundraising efforts. It the hospital to put together takes an extended team to put project requirements and all the pieces together on such specifications that would a complex facility, and heading govern the competing that consortium was Plenary teams for the St. CathaGroup. "This is one of the first projects in Ontario to be cre– Mike Marasco, CEO, rines hospital project. "We ated under the design, build, Plenary Group have a P3 procurement method for delivering large finance, maintain approach infrastructure projects (DBFM)," says Mike Marasco, CEO, Plenary Group. "In one procurement, the bidders pro- in the province," says Walter Gaudet, posed a fixed price for everything from the design of the associate principal. "Input came from facility through to the construction and maintenance for 30 literally hundreds of meetings with years. After that time, the owner, Niagara Health System, user groups that included physicians, is guaranteed provisions for the condition of the asset on nurses, occupational therapists, technologists and maintenance people." hand back." He notes the meetings went on Marasco says performance guarantees are in place over the 30 years, so only a portion is paid upon substantial for a great length of time until all the completion and the rest is paid over the span of the contract. details were ironed out, eventually " This is one of the first projects in Ontario to be created under the design, build, finance, maintain approach." april 2013 /49 13-04-05 2:08 PM