EDMONTON — Two years behind schedule and $89 million over budget: That’s the most recent update on the construction of the new Grande Prairie Regional Hospital.
The Alberta Government said a number factors led to the project running over budget, including electrical costs being 73 per cent higher than anticipated and drywall costs being 233 per cent higher than what was originally budgeted.
The government also said tradespeople have been “very selective” about which projects they’re taking on, and getting crews to commit to jobs outside of Edmonton and Calgary has been a challenge.
In addition, planning was not finished before site preparation started, which was also a contributing factor.
Alberta Health Minister Sarah Hoffman is blaming the former PC government for poor planning on the project.
“We need to make sure that there is good planning that happens up front before announcements are made about dollar figures and about timelines that aren’t at all realistic,” said Hoffman.
“Part of it is that we learned that the previous timelines and budgets weren’t realistic at all.”
The province has been working with Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services to come up with ways to find savings, which include:
- Building but not finishing several spaces in the new hospital, including two operating rooms, space for mental health services and a courtyard;
- Deferring renovations to the existing Queen Elizabeth II Hospital;
- Simplifying some of the interior plans;
- Attempting to find new contractors to do the electrical, mechanical and drywall work in hopes of bringing down costs.
Construction on the Grande Prairie Regional Hospital began in 2014. The $647.5-million project was originally scheduled to open spring 2017. It is now set to be complete in 2019.