Nathan Neudorf, Deputy Premier and Minister of Infrastructure. (Supplied)

By Nathan Neudorf, Deputy Premier and Minister of Infrastructure

Op-Ed

Red Deer Regional Hospital expansion

Feb 15, 2023 | 5:00 PM

Recently, I had the privilege to travel to Red Deer, meet with elected officials from across central Alberta, and host a public information session about the Red Deer Regional Hospital Expansion project to help answer the central question: why does building a hospital take so long?

As the many folks in attendance at our information session heard me say, building a hospital is like an iceberg: there is a lot more beneath the surface. Hospitals are very complex buildings from a construction standpoint. Residential construction, which many of us understand more broadly, is like a snowball in the water next to the massive iceberg that is hospital construction.

Most people do not know about the intricacies of hospital builds, nor should they have to. When someone needs a hospital their top of mind concern is not on the length of medical gas tubing in the walls and ceilings, or how much space there is between floors for electrical, medical, and plumbing equipment; they just want the best medical help available.

However, I am increasingly encouraged by the amount of interest there is around the Red Deer hospital project and its progress. My background is in construction and I love to see excitement from the community around projects. It is a genuine pleasure to help “chip away this iceberg” for people and let them know what goes on beneath the surface.

In 2019, our government picked up this project after the former government excluded it from their capital planning priorities. We evaluated what we could do for Red Deer’s hospital, which has been long overdue for expansion. So we looked at what the needs were and what we could do to solve these issues from an infrastructure standpoint.

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Skilled teams of professionals are working to determine the plans for the facility to best meet community needs, an endeavour requiring designers, engineers, contractors, medical staff, sub-trades, Infrastructure, Health and AHS to work closely together. We currently expect this $1.8-billion project to move to the design stage this spring, with construction completion in 2030 or 2031.

During this redevelopment, the current Red Deer hospital will remain operational. Therefore, it’s imperative that construction does not affect the delivery of health services at the existing facility. To that end, planning for the continued delivery of healthcare services during construction in, or around an active facility starts early in the design process.

This can be a complex and detailed process, involving moving care areas to other locations within the hospital, and changing access routes for patients. Precise planning is essential to ensure impacts to patients and their families are as minimal as possible. Therefore, we cannot responsibly get shovels in the ground and start construction until this important planning and design work is complete.

Once complete, the new expansion will add up to 200 beds to the existing facility, bringing the total number of beds to up to 570. There will be a building addition, including a new inpatient tower, and extensive renovations to the existing building which will be completed in a phased manner in order to maintain clinical operations. There will also be a new ambulatory clinic constructed on the site—medical services performed without admission to the hospital.

This is a massive infrastructure project that will support jobs in design, engineering, and construction. There will also be a ripple effect, with employment growth in the transportation, manufacturing, and supply industries.

Investing in Infrastructure projects like the Red Deer Regional Hospital expansion is integral to Alberta’s economic development and creating a prosperous and healthy future for generations to come.

-Nathan Neudorf, Deputy Premier and Minister of Infrastructure

EDITOR’S NOTE: The views expressed above are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of rdnewsNOW or Pattison Media. rdnewsNOW reserves the right to edit submissions for length. Column suggestions and letters to the editor can be sent to news@rdnewsNOW.com.