On Friday, May 27, 2022, in pouring rain, a small ceremony was held on the grounds of the Stuart Lake Hospital. Led by Jolene Prince of Nak’azdli Whut'en, the ceremony blessed the ground, the current and future hospital buildings, the health of those who contribute to health care in the community and those who seek healing at the Stuart Lake Hospital.

A small group representing partner Indigenous Nations, Northern Health staff and leaders, physicians, and groups who contributed to the planning and building of the new hospital assembled for the blessing. Prayers and hopes for the new hospital, for its staff, physicians, and patients were spoken by all, and appreciation for the collaboration and hard work required to organize and build the hospital were expressed.

This quiet occasion acknowledged the hard work of community and partners over many years to bring this project to the threshold of construction. Many more opportunities to connect and celebrate lie in the future.

Keep track of updates to the hospital replacement project here, at Let’s Talk, and on Facebook. Reach out with questions to LetsTalkSLH@northernhealth.ca. Stay in touch and stay tuned for milestones to celebrate and opportunities to connect.

Wilf Adam, Northern Health Board Member, joins Jolene Prince in prayers for a culturally safe and healthy hospitalElders from Nak'azdli, Tl'azt'en and Binche Nation came together with community members and NH staff for the ground blessing ceremonyBetsy Dennis of Binche

Greg Marr, SOO Northern Interior Rural and Co-Chair of the Stuart Lake Hospital Replacement Project, and Binche Health Director Carrie NashPrimary Care Society Chair Ann McCormick drumming

Councillor Dr. Paul Stent has worked in health care in Fort St. James since 1988 Doreen Austin from Tl'azt'en honoured the ceremony with song

Construction of the Stuart Lake Replacement Hospital is just around the corner, and while design is not complete, we're excited to provide a quick peek at some of preview material from the design team!

Keep in mind these images may change, but take a moment to enjoy a visual of the new front and side approaches to the hospital.

Design has progressed since this older image, but it gives a good idea of the new hospital placement. You'll have to ignore the courtyards - they've been removed since this image was produced - but if you spend some time with this rendering you'll see how the new hospital is situated in the neighbourhood and will be able to imagine where the views from inside the building and from the patios and gardens will land.

While construction starts and design progresses, we'll be looking for your input on different aspects of the new hospital. We'll create opportunities to connect here on Let's Talk and in person - at open houses and other events - as the weather and the pandemic allow.

Keep in touch and stay up-to-date on the project! We're glad you're following along to watch the new Stuart Lake Hospital take shape.

On May 1, 2022, the Stuart Lake Hospital helipad will be closed while the new hospital is built. This is because construction can’t safely take place with the helipad in operation. So, the helipad at the hospital will be decommissioned for the duration, and the helipad at the airport will be used for helicopter landings and patient transport during this time. The airport is 7.8km, roughly 9 minutes, from the hospital.

The hospital helipad will reopen once construction finishes. And even better, safety upgrades to the helipad will take place during construction. These upgrades will include fencing, signage, re-location of the wind-sock, painting, and new spotlights.

If you're wondering whether involving ambulances in transporting folks to the helipad is an extra step, you'll be interested to know that whether the helipad is at the airport or on the hospital site, BC Ambulance Services are involved in transporting the patient to the aircraft.

You might also be interested to know that the helipad at the airport is used three times more often to move patients to and from the Stuart Lake Hospital than the helipad at the hospital. BC Emergency Health Services (BCEHS) determines which of the two helipads to use depending on circumstances, availability of ambulance cars, and weather conditions. During the hospital construction and the hospital helipad closure, BCEHS staff won't find it procedurally unusual to use the airport helipad.

We appreciate your patience and understanding as we take this necessary step to allow for the new, much needed, Stuart Lake Hospital to be built. If you have any questions, please reach out! You can contact us at LetsTalkSLH@northernhealth.ca.

We are excited to announce that the Design-Build Agreement has been signed with the Stuart Lake Hospital Replacement Project’s preferred proponent, Graham Design Builders LP, which means that construction can begin!

“People in Fort St. James and the surrounding communities will soon see shovels go in the ground for a state-of-the-art hospital, which is very exciting,” said Adrian Dix, Minister of Health. “Local residents have been waiting for years to see their hospital replaced and our government took action to make it happen.” Read the full announcement here.

The timeline hasn't changed, so construction is expected to begin at the end of May, 2022, and the new hospital should be ready for patients in 2025.

We're going to keep you posted along the way! For Stuart Lake Hospital news, follow along here at Let’s Talk Stuart Lake Hospital. And send questions to LetsTalkSLH@northernhealth.ca. We'll be happy to answer them.

Stuart Lake Hospital from Mt. Dickson Trail

Behind the scenes is a flurry of activity, but you'd never know it looking out at the quiet field behind the Stuart Lake Hospital. The trees are down, the view is wide, the ground is waiting for shovels, and the people of Nak'azdli, Fort St James, Binche, Tl'azt'en, Yekooche and Takla are ready for the new build to start.

Ice pile in Stone's Bay

In the meantime, we watch the ice pile up on shore, melt away and then freeze up again, ready for spring... and for the excitement of the Stuart Lake hospital construction to begin!

Open water in April on Stuart Lake

Watch this page for announcements. We'll keep you posted.

(Thanks to Ann McCormick for the view of the hospital from the trail to Mt. Dickson).

Stuart Lake Hospital Spring 2022 Quarterly Update

Where we’re at

Since Northern Health first began discussing the Stuart Lake Hospital Replacement project in 2008 we’ve come a long way. Provincial approval in 2018 led to the business plan approval in 2020, and in May 2021, Graham Design Builders LP was selected as the successful proponent of the project with their proposal for design, build, finance and maintenance. Now we find ourselves well into the procurement phase of the project.

Procurement consists of two parts: a technical submission and a financial submission. The technical submission ensures that the design meets community and health service needs, and the financial submission addresses the costs of the project. An evaluation committee then receives the submissions and reviews them. Throughout this process, the proponent’s design development continues.

Meanwhile, Northern Health is actively working with the contractor to ensure that the Stuart Lake Hospital will meet the community and health service needs while keeping within the Design Build Agreement. We’re also actively engaging with the community.

Project Schedule

Like all project schedules, timelines can be impacted any number of factors and thus are subject to change.

Flagging and falling of trees to clear the site began in early February 2022 and construction is currently on track to begin summer of 2022. Construction will take place between 2022 and 2024, with transfer of staff and patients the goal for 2025.

Next steps and upcoming milestones

Engagement next steps

Right now the Communications Team is establishing a Cultural Safety Working Group (CSWG) and a Community Advisory Working Group (CAWG). The work of the CSWG and the CAWG informs the project to help ensure a facility that reflects and supports the communities in the Fort St James area and the Northern Health Services Plan. Aspects of the project that may be influenced by these groups include patient experience, culturally appropriate design, artwork and signage, and local considerations of interest that arise as we meet.

There is a lot going on behind the scenes in a hospital replacement project, but a simplified version of the reporting goes like this: input from the CAWG and CSWG goes to the Capital Advisory Committee and then to the SLHR Project Steering Committee who, in collaboration with the Project Board, balances the complexities of a capital building project with the needs and wants of the local communities.

Engagement is a major part of Northern Health Capital Projects, and there will be many opportunities for input from the community as this project progresses.

Once construction has started for the Stuart Lake Hospital Replacement, this milestone will be celebrated by us on-site, online, and in the media. We hope you will join us!

Stuart Lake Hospital construction camera

Interested in what goes into a major hospital replacement? We will be installing a construction camera that you can access to see what’s going on at the site and watch it all come together. Although work has yet to begin, the construction camera will be a way to keep up to date with the Stuart Lake Hospital Replacement.

For a peek at other Capital Projects in progress in Northern BC, take a look at the GR Baker Construction Camera recording the hospital expansion in Quesnel, or at the Mills Memorial Construction Camera recording the replacement of the Mills Memorial Hospital in Terrace.

For more information

Stuart Lake Hospital Replacement Project Let’s Talk

Let’s Talk is our one-stop shop for everything related to the Stuart Lake Hospital project. Not only does this site have regular project updates, but it is also a place where you can provide feedback and thoughts on the project.

Stuart Lake Hospital Let’s Talk

Contact us directly

For questions, feedback, or to get added to the distribution list for these updates, feel free to reach out directly to us through Jill Wigmore, our Community Liaison Officer for the Stuart Lake Hospital Replacement Project at LetsTalkSLH@northernhealth.ca

Early in the morning on February 24, 2022, the 6ix Sigma film crew arrived at the Stuart Lake Hospital ready to meet the staff and start filming. The photographer roamed the hospital snapping pictures and getting to know hospital staff in the lab, radiology, and throughout the hospital, while the film crew followed Tiwi Mukubvu as she went about her day at work.

Tiwi moved from Toronto to Fort St James as a new grad. Her enjoyment of her chosen home is clear. In the video she is seen at work with her colleagues at Stuart Lake hospital, at Murray Ridge Ski Hill, where her friend and fellow nurse Sarah Grill coaches her down the slopes, and as she and her daughter stroll along the frozen shore of Stone’s Bay on Stuart Lake, or Nakal Bun in Dakelh, where food gathering and recreation have been mainstays of humans for thousands of years.

6ix Sigma brings her story as a second generation nurse and a Northern BC transplant to life, showcasing the care with which she and her colleagues tend to their patients. “We all work together,” Tiwi says. “It’s all hands on deck – someone is the right hand and someone is the left hand and we just work well together.”

Tiwi Mukubvu at workNurses on skis at Murray Ridge

Tiwi’s passion for her job and the community are a highlight of the video. Having learned to embrace the winter, she has no regrets about moving to Fort St James. The smile we see on her face as she as she and her daughter ramble the snowy shore doesn’t waiver. The video captures the winter beauty of Fort St James and showcases the outdoor opportunities adventure-seekers and nature-lovers enjoy when they’re off work.

Tiwi is one individual among many who have chosen to move to Fort St James for work, and her hunch about the Stuart Lake Hospital was right: she’s found friends among her colleagues who all share her anticipation for the new hospital. “All our staff here are excited about it,” she says, “I think nothing beats working in a new facility.”

Currently, Stuart Lake Hospital has 13 beds. The new hospital will more than double that number, and with an increase to the services offered, more staff are needed to fill nursing, physician, lab, and diagnostic imaging positions.

6ix Sigma’s work, and the enthusiastic participation of the hospital staff in its creation, have resulted in a captivating video that prospective healthcare workers won’t be able to resist – the camaraderie and support of staff for one another and their commitment to their hospital and its patients are clearly on display.

Adding to the puzzle library in long term care

Stay tuned to Let’s Talk to view the video on its release.

Stuart Lake, looking east towards
Fort St James

Starting next week, tree clearing begins on the land where the Stuart Lake Hospital replacement will stand. This is an exciting step for the Stuart Lake Hospital project that brings us closer to a new, modern hospital for the people in the Fort St. James area.

Tree clearing must take place while the ground is still hard. Luckily, we have very hard ground here in February. Taba, a locally owned and operated company, has been contracted for site preparation. Tree flagging is their first step, which begins this weekend, and equipment will arrive onsite early next week. Falling and clearing should start soon after that.

We’ve had lots going on behind the scenes, but until now we haven’t had boots-on-the-ground news to offer. We’re in the procurement phase of the process with design development ongoing, which means we’ll be reaching out to the community for input and to connect about the project.

Stay tuned - we’ll have more information to share soon!

People in Fort St. James and the surrounding area are one step closer to a modern hospital as a preferred proponent has been selected for the design phase.

"Our government is moving forward to deliver a new hospital in Fort St. James with the selection of a preferred proponent and signing of the design-early works agreement," said Adrian Dix, Minister of Health. ͞This announcement means we are closer to seeing what the hospital will look like and getting shovels in the ground."

Northern Health requested and received proposals from three shortlisted proponents for this stage of the procurement process, the design-early works agreement (DEWA). Those teams were Clark Builders, Graham Design Builders LP and SBW Wright Construction JV.

As a result of the evaluation process, in co-ordination with Northern Health and Infrastructure BC, Graham Design Builders LP was selected as the successful proponent.

The new hospital is expected to be three times larger in building size than the current facility with 27 beds, including 18 long-term care beds. There will be an emergency department with two treatment rooms, a trauma bay and ambulance bay. A laboratory and diagnostic imaging will be part of the new facility.

The hospital will include a primary care centre to consolidate services offered in Fort St. James at one location, reducing the distance patients and staff need to go for medical appointments, community health services, diagnostic imaging and lab services.

For more information, see the full media release.

The Stuart Lake Hospital Replacement project continues to remain on track in terms of scope, schedule budget and quality.

Northern Health has requested and received proposals from three shortlisted proponent teams. Their responses are in regards to the first stage of the procurement for a Design Early Works Agreement (DEWA). The responses are currently being evaluated through an established process in coordination with Northern Health and Infrastructure BC. Evaluations will continue through the beginning of December into early 2021.

The current proposal phase evaluates the proponent proposals for design using the DEWA contract. Once the DEWA is signed, the successful Design Builder will pursue getting a Design Build Contract to provide Northern Health with the design and construction of the replacement facility in Stuart Lake. We are expecting to finalize the DEWA contract in January.