Red Deer Regional Hospital (rdnewsNOW file photo)

By Alessia Proietti

March 14 7 - 9 p.m.

Updates on Red Deer Hospital expansion to be shared at public information session next week

Mar 7, 2024 | 10:31 AM

Alberta Infrastructure will be hosting a public information session next Thursday to provide updates on the Red Deer Regional Hospital expansion project.

Project representatives will be at the session to answer the public’s questions on March 14 from 7 – 9 p.m. at The Chalet in Westerner Park (4847A 19 Street).

If Budget 2024 passes, the 2024 Capital Plan would provide $810 million over the next three years toward a $1.8-billion investment for redevelopment of the Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre.

Schematic design on the project was recently completed. The next step is design development, which entails creating the entire construction plan, including building finishes as well as plumbing and electrical components.

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The provincial government says the project continues to be on time and on budget.

Throughout redevelopment, they say the Red Deer Hospital will remain operational.

Government officials say the redevelopment of the Hospital aligns with Alberta Health Service’s priority areas as it will help improve patient flow and reduce emergency department wait times through increased capacity. They say it also supports the Alberta Surgical Initiative by providing additional pre and post-operative spaces.

Once complete, they anticipate new expansion will add up to 200 beds to the existing facility, bringing the total number of beds to 570.

The project plans to upgrade several services throughout the hospital site including:

• an additional inpatient tower
• three new operating rooms
• new Medical Device Reprocessing department
• new cardiac catheterization labs
• renovations to various areas within the main building
• newly renovated and expanded emergency department, and
• a new ambulatory clinic building to be located adjacent to the surface parkade.

There are three major construction phases of the redevelopment, which will be run as two separate projects:

• Project 1: construction of a new inpatient tower, and an expansion and renovation of the existing hospital’s main building.
• Project 2: construction of an ambulatory care building using a public-private partnership (P3) delivery model.

The Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre offers specialized services and advanced care programs. It is also the primary referral site for many smaller rural hospitals.

Dr. Luanne Metz, Alberta NDP Critic for Health, issued the following statement in response to the UCP using a public-private partnership delivery model for an ambulatory care building:

“Using a public-private partnership delivery to build critical health infrastructure for central Alberta is wrong. Period.

“Only three months ago the UCP said they would no longer be using the P3 approach as their preferred way to build schools, so there is no reason they need to transfer this disaster of an idea to our health care.

“Danielle Smith knows that P3s result in horrible outcomes for the function of infrastructure. There is no reason the Alberta government needs to be investing taxpayer dollars into privately controlled buildings for critical services.

“The outpatient care facility in Red Deer will need to work together with the main tower of the Red Deer Regional hospital, and losing control of the building’s function will result in problems for those in central Alberta seeking care at this facility.

“The Alberta NDP would never use P3 models for the critical infrastructure Albertans rely on.”

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