Project Profile
Corner Brook Acute Care Hospital
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ewfoundland and Labrador is getting a new $750 million state-of-the-art hospital, and it’s not where you might think: Corner Brook – a city of roughly 32,000 people on the island’s west coast – has been waiting for well over a decade for their new hospital and its finally happening. Planning for the project began in 2007. After years of political promises and planning, the hospital is expected to open in late 2023. The province selected a site in September 2009 and, by fall of 2010, it was assumed construction would begin sometime in 2012. Through this process, planning, re-planning, involvement of multiple consulting firms and the leadership of five premiers (and now a sixth), construction was delayed. In 2013 the province instructed a team to proceed with design and preliminary work on both the hospital and an attached care home. In 2015, the instruction was to refocus on the hospital only. Ultimately, political changes led to further delays and alternative planning. Two teams were prequalified to submit proposals to design, build, finance and maintain the facility. The final stage of the procurement process kicked off in January 2018. After 17 months, in June 2019, the Corner Brook Health Partnership was selected as the preferred proponent. The successful team consists largely of Plenary Group, PCL, Marco Services, Parkin Architects Limited, John Hearn Architect, Johnson Controls, among others. The second team, with the ultimately unsuccessful bid was the Atlantic Healthcare Partnership, led by Sacyr Concesiones of Spain and DIF infra of the Netherlands, both of which have offices in Toronto. Atlantic Healthcare Partnership also included Canadian design firms, Allied Construction Management of St. John’s and Brook Construction (2007) of Corner Brook. The new 600,000 SF facility comprises seven storeys and 164 beds. Once complete, the hospital will be connected to a $120 million, 145-bed, long-term care home that began construction in 2017 and was completed this past February.
www.plenarygroup.com/projects/americas/corner-brook-acute-care-hospital
www.plenarygroup.com/projects/americas/corner-brook-acute-care-hospital
www.marcogroup.ca/projects/corner-brook-acute-care-hospital
In the earlier planning years, the Provincial PCs estimated the project would cost around $800 million. The deal inked with Croner Brook Health Partnership is somewhere between $700 million and $750 million. At the outset of the project, the Government of Newfoundland & Labrador noted the project is expected to contribute $460 million to the provinces GDP. A massive project such as this comes with a significant schedule to match the complexity and value. The sod turning was on August 16, 2019. Steel erection
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was completed in mid-October 2020. With steel finished, concrete work will continue until Christmas 2020. PCL’s team indicates they are on track for their targeted completion date of November 7, 2023. The construction team has noted the COVID-19 pandemic has not slowed the schedule. The significant use of a workforce made up of largely of Newfoundland and Labrador skilled trades has meant no self-isolation or quarantine requirements for workers, which otherwise would delay crews and scopes of work. To return to Table of Contents CLICK HERE