People in Dawson Creek and area are one step closer to a new hospital now that a preferred proponent has been selected for the design phase.

“The selection of the team that will design the new hospital means another important milestone has been reached for people in the region,” said Adrian Dix, Minister of Health. “The new and bigger facility will deliver public health-care services to people in the South Peace for decades to come.”

The three proponents shortlisted for the Design Early Works Agreement (DEWA) were:

• Clark Builders-Turner-HDR Architecture;
• SBW-Kinetic-Wright Construction with KRA and Gibbs Gage Architects; and
• Graham Design Builders and Diamond Schmitt Architects Inc.

As a result of the evaluation process, in co-ordination with Northern Health and Infrastructure BC, Clark Builders-Turner-HDR Architecture was selected.

A request for proposals for the DEWA was issued to the teams on March 16, 2021. A DEWA is a contractual agreement between the design-builder and Northern Health, which starts the design phase for the new hospital.

The next step is the Design-Build Agreement request for proposals. This involves Clark Builders-Turner-HDR Architecture submitting design and cost proposals to Northern Health for the new hospital.

Execution of the Design-Build Agreement is anticipated to take place in 2022 and construction to begin shortly after. The hospital is expected to be ready for patients in 2026.

The new building will be approximately 19,400 square metres (209,000 square feet) and have 70 beds, which is an increase of 24. The emergency department will also increase in size, with treatment spaces increasing from 10 to 15.

As well, the new facility will continue to provide a range of surgical services as well as chemotherapy, ambulatory care, radiology, clinical support and pharmacy services.

There will also be space for a laboratory and diagnostic imaging, and a perinatal unit including labour, delivery, recovery and post-partum rooms and a nursery to support new parents and families. Mental health service delivery will be brought up to modern standards with a new inpatient suite and an increase of beds from 15 to 18.

The new hospital will be located on the territory of Treaty 8 First Nations. Local First Nations will be consulted throughout the project to ensure culturally appropriate spaces are available, which will also include a non-denominational spiritual room for use by people of all cultures and faiths.

The project budget is $377.86 million and will be shared by the provincial government, through Northern Health, and the Peace River Regional Hospital District, which will contribute $150.2 million. The existing hospital will remain operational during the construction of the new hospital.

For more information, see the full Ministry of Health release.

Did you know that the new project management office used to be a cafeteria? You’d never know by looking at it!

This office within the Dawson Creek and District Hospital (DCDH) has been set up as a place for our project team to work on everything to do with the DCDH Replacement Project. The door to the project management office is always open for the staff of DCDH to grab a coffee and have a chat with the project team about what’s going on and provide any feedback they may have.

Check out the full renovation process here.

A special thanks goes out to the following for all their hard work in getting the space ready:

• The PMO Team
• Stephen McInnis, Maintenance Supervisor
• Mark McCorkell, Maintenance Worker
• Darcy Walker, Maintenance Worker
• Leo Gauley, Maintenance Worker, Plant Services
• Doyle Grayston, Maintenance Worker, Plant Building
• Brad Turner, Service Support Analyst
• Albert Sommerfeld, Director, Capital Development & Projects
• Leah Joseph, Coordinator, Capital Projects, Capital Planning

from the Ministry of Health

People in Dawson Creek and the surrounding region are one step closer to a modern hospital, as three candidates have been shortlisted for the request for proposals (RFP).

“People in Dawson Creek are closer to having a preferred proponent to design and build the new Dawson Creek and district hospital,” said Adrian Dix, Minister of Health. “This announcement means people and families are closer to seeing what the hospital will look like, to construction starting and to the new hospital opening for patients.”

Northern Health requested and received proposals from four vendors, of which three were shortlisted. The proponents for this stage of the procurement process, the design-early works agreement (DEWA), are:

• Clark Builders-Turner-HDR Architecture;
• SBW-Kinetic-Wright Construction with KRA and Gibbs Gage Architects; and
• Graham Design Builders and Diamond Schmitt Architects Inc.

An RFP for the DEWA was issued to the shortlisted teams on March 16, 2021. At the end of the RFP process, one proponent will be selected. That proponent is expected to be announced this fall.

For more information, see the full news release.

Northern Health is currently in the business case planning stage for the Dawson Creek & District Hospital Replacement Project.

Part of that planning requires some pre-engineering and testing work, a portion of which will take place on the Northwest corner of the Northern Lights College (NLC) property. NLC is supportive of this work and the disruption on that site will be minimal.