Construction at the Stuart Lake Hospital charges forward as we work towards welcoming patients in January 2025.

Haven't had a chance to keep up with our updates online? We've compiled highlights of the recent progress and engagement activity in the May 2024 Quarterly Update to catch you up.

PROJECT STATUS UPDATE

Where we’re at

It’s been a busy quarter at the new Stuart Lake Hospital site in Fort St. James. The Graham building team has been hard at work to keep the project on time and on budget, and we are pleased to announce that 85% of the construction is now complete!

This milestone is right on schedule, and we look forward to welcoming patients to the facility in January 2025.

Some notable highlights of the last few months include:

• Exterior construction is virtually finished.
• Interior work is well underway with installation of ceilings, electrical and mechanical systems commissioning, and finishing details like painting and flooring.
• 386 doors have been installed throughout the facility.

This is just a snapshot of the progress on the new hospital. Fun fact: the Graham team clocked over 300,000 worker hours in March alone! Check out progress photos and videos on our Let’s Talk website to see how far construction has come.

Next steps

Some of the upcoming activities include:

• We are launching two new working groups to assist with facility naming and art selection (details on page 3).
• Construction will be completed in Fall 2024. Once the keys are passed over, we’ll be moving equipment in, training staff, and preparing for the January opening.
• Work on the Healing Garden and other landscaped areas around the facility will occur in Spring 2025.

ENGAGEMENT INITIATIVES

Education, wellness, and career fairs

Have you met our new Community Engagement Liaison yet? Christine Midgley has been making her way around Fort St. James’ events to make local connections, share project updates, and give community members a sneak peek at the new facility.

In March, she partnered up with our recruitment team to attend Nak’azdli Whut’en’s career fair at Kwah Hall. Since the new hospital is three times the size of the current facility, Northern Health will be hiring for multiple health care and support services positions over the coming months. Attendees learned about the various employment opportunities at the new facility and different education pathways to get there.

In April, these conversations continued at the district’s Recreation and Wellness Fair, hosted at Fort St. James Secondary School. Many students and community members expressed interest in health care careers or shared their excitement for the new facility.

Melissa Morin (Regional Lead, Indigenous Recruitment) attended with Christine to share information about the Indigenous-specific programming and resources available through Northern Health.

Elders’ Grand Tea

More than 150 elders from Binche Whut’en, Nak’azdli Whut’en, Tl’azt’en, Takla Lake, and Yekooche First Nations gathered for the annual Elders’ Grand Tea at the Fort St. James Community Centre. The day was filled with drum making, bingo, and connecting over good food.

Christine attended the event with Megan Hunter (Health Services Administrator, Lakes Omineca) and Angie Prince (Indigenous Patient Liaison Worker) to give a short presentation to the elders on how their feedback impacted facility design, share progress photos, and unveil renderings of the bilingual English/Dakelh signage that will be featured in the new Stuart Lake Hospital.

Finally, we began to gather interest for the upcoming art and naming working groups.

Participants needed for upcoming working groups

One of the top priorities for the new Stuart Lake Hospital is to create a welcoming, culturally safe environment for all. To ensure this, we’ve engaged with working groups consisting of key leaders in the region, Indigenous communities, and health care staff. We incorporate their feedback wherever possible in the project.

As we enter the final stages of construction, Northern Health will be launching two new working groups to get community feedback: one for art selection, and one for facility naming.

The art selection committee will have a say in what pieces (paintings, photos, sculptures, etc.) are featured in the new build.

The naming committee will help choose names for the long-term care facility, various rooms, and a name to appear on the front of the building.

If you’re interested in joining either of these working groups, please reach out to Christine Midgley at LetsTalkSLH@northernhealth.ca

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Let’s Talk: Stuart Lake Hospital

The Stuart Lake Hospital Replacement’s Let’s Talk website is our one-stop shop for everything related to the project. On the site, you can find:

• Key details and important information
• Regular project updates
• Draft renderings
• Photos and video of construction progress
• Engagement highlights

Here are some updates that have been shared recently:

• Construction progress photos – April – March
• Construction Time Lapse
• FAQ: How did you pick the colours for the new hospital?

Contact us directly

For questions, feedback, or to get added to the distribution list for these updates, email Christine Midgley (Community Engagement Liaison, Stuart Lake Hospital Replacement Project) at LetsTalkSLH@northernhealth.ca

For more information on employment opportunities at the new hospital, visit Northern Health Careers.