Covenant Health has, for the first time, put forward a capital projects priority list to the Alberta government to ensure the needs for its facilities are made clear during the planning process.
At the top of the list for the healthcare provider is a plan to provide badly needed upgrades to the Misericordia Hospital on the west side of Edmonton.
The plan calls for a phased modernization, which would include an expansion of the emergency department and a new bed tower being constructed in the short term, with further renovations to be completed in later years.
“What we tried to do is put together a really practical approach that would meet the needs of our community, and do so in a way that also respects the economic climate of the province,” said Patrick Dumelie, the president and CEO of Covenant Health.
Covenant Health put together its priority plan to ensure Health Minister Sarah Hoffman had its perspective on the need for the project.
Alberta Health Services also has the Misericordia on its priority list, but it’s competing with needed renovations and upgrades at the Royal Alexandra Hospital and a proposal to build an entirely new hospital in Edmonton.
READ MORE: New hospital needed in Edmonton; calls to scale back Royal Alex, Misericordia: AHS
It is that proposal Dumelie says should fall behind the Misericordia because renovations to the existing structure would be faster and would add to a site that is already in a good location for residents in the rapidly growing west end.
“From roadways, the Henday and the Whitemud, to the new LRT that’s going to come right to the front door, it’s ideally situated.”
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Hoffman isn’t tipping her hand as to which projects the government is leaning towards, but says the priority lists put forward by the health providers have been helpful.
“They are two useful pieces of information as the government moves through the appropriate treasury board and infrastructure process,” she said, adding these are both important pieces of infrastructure.
“I wish that the work would have been done on these facilities when oil was $100-per-barrel,” Hoffman said. “The last government didn’t do that work.
“That doesn’t mean we’re not going to move forward as responsibly and efficiently as we can.”
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