Mills Memorial Hospital Replacement - Terrace, BC

During the planning stages, new health care facilities are assigned and funded for a set of number of beds. This number, and the types of beds, are based on a many factors including population and health care need projections.

The new Mills Memorial facility will be more than twice the size of the current facility. And the number of beds is also set to almost double, going from 44 to 78.

The reality of a hospital though, including Mills Memorial, is that regardless of the official number of beds, if a patient needs care, they will receive care. Also, while the beds at the new Mills Memorial hospital are dedicated to particular types of care and services, if no one requires that care or service at the time, the beds will be used for the care that current patients require; the beds are not necessarily only used for the type of care they are dedicated to.

Another common misconception is that the beds dedicated to the same service are located in a particular section of the hospital, such as a ward. In the new hospital, however, every room will be private with a private bathroom, which will improve patient care and experience. Also, every room will be able to accommodate all types and levels of care - though some rooms are dedicated, and therefore, more suited to particular forms of care or services.

The official breakdown of beds, old vs new, at MMH is:

• 25 to 41 medical/surgical beds
• 3 to 5 maternity/gynecology beds
• 3 to 4 labour room beds
• 3 to 8 intensive care unit beds
• 10 to 20 psychiatric unit beds

The emergency department will also increase from 10 beds to 20.

The number of beds at Seven Sisters will also increase from 20 to 25 beds.

The tower cranes at the MMH construction site can be seen throughout the community.

It’s a bird. It’s a plane. No. It’s two tower cranes!

In the next couple weeks, two 160-foot tower cranes will be erected at the Mills Memorial Hospital site and remain on site – and in the Terrace skyline – for approximately 18 months. To put the height of the cranes into perspective, 160 feet is approximately 50 metres, which is the length of three and half semitrailers in a row.

Tower cranes are made up of a vertical tower (the mast) and an outstretched jib (the working arm). They are used on major construction sites to lift and move heavy equipment and materials.

It will take about four days to assemble and erect the two cranes, which will be permanently attached to concrete bases, which were built over the last month in anticipation of the cranes’ arrival.

The mobile crane, which has been on site for several weeks, will be used to assist in the set up of the tower cranes.

All the cranes will only work within the perimeter of the construction site. The tower cranes will be located in what will be the interior of the new building and the jibs won’t be able to reach outside of the property limits.Start of tower crane erection on August 4, 2021.

The Mills Memorial Hospital Replacement project is progressing smoothly. Two major activities on the go right now include upgrades to the storm and water system on Haugland Avenue, near Eby Street and a large concrete pour with two pumps working on site today, Monday, July 26.

Double pumping concrete action.

Last week, some of the PCL crew who are in town building the new hospital, joined members of the Terrace Beautification Society, along with local high-school students, to help clean up around Market Estates, a seniors housing complex on Davis Avenue in Terrace. The three PCL employees spent some time pulling weeds and chatting with locals.

The Mills Memorial Hospital project will take approximately four years to complete and PCL is keen to get know and be involved in the community during their time here.

Read the Terrace Standard article about the youth volunteering that night along with the PCL employees.

Lots of weeds to pick.

Working hard.

A well deserved break.

Lots of great volunteers.

Heads up there will be more construction traffic than usual on Monday, July 26. Up to 80 trucks will be hauling concrete onto the Mills Memorial construction site, using the site's Tetrault entrance and exit. The trucks will be supplying concrete to two pumps pouring a large supporting concrete slab for parts of the new hospital.

The section of Haugland Avenue, between Eby Street and the nearest hospital entrance (see photo for exact location), will be closed for approximately two weeks starting this Saturday, July 24, as storm and water drainage systems are upgraded as part of the construction of a new Hospital.

Only pedestrians and local residents with private driveways on the north side of Haugland will be able to access the area while work is underway. The area will be closed to drivers and cyclists from the general public.

We suggest anyone driving to and from the hospital, use Tetrault Street.

Please follow all signage and obey traffic personnel if you are in the area.

For more information about the upgrades, go to:

https://letstalk.northernhealth.ca/mills-memorial-hospital-replacement/news_feed/haugland-closure

A new parking lot on the east side of the Mills Memorial hospital site, which fits approximately 70 vehicles, is now available for use.

The new gravel lot, adjacent to Tetrault Street and north of the hospital, aims to accommodate a growing number of hospital staff and reduce street parking. Because of its distance to the hospital entrance, the new lot is intended mainly for staff use. However, the spots have no restrictions.

This lot is temporary and will be removed when the area is required to accommodate the building of the new hospital – likely in the summer of 2023.

Under Construction

Completed

Starting shortly, only local residents will be able to drive or walk along a portion of Haugland Avenue, just west of the hospital, for close to two weeks as the area is being closed to the public. That’s because PCL will be upgrading the drainage and water systems in the area as part of the new Mills Memorial Hospital Replacement project. With the new facility planned to be more than twice the size of the current one, an increase in capacity in these systems is necessary.

The work is being managed similarly to other work on streets in the City of Terrace, with approvals, permits and a traffic management plan. Signage and flaggers will guide traffic and pedestrian flow during the day, while work is underway. While the general public will not be able to access the area, locals who live on the section of road on which the work is taking place, will still be able to get to their residences with the help of the traffic control on site.

PCL’s aim is to complete any work related to the new hospital, outside of the fenced construction site on the Mills Memorial property, as soon as possible. That way all future construction is contained within the site, minimizing local impacts. With Cassie Hall Elementary School just opposite the hospital, PCL waited until school was out for summer, for the sake of student safety and minimizing traffic interference, to complete these necessary upgrades.

The upgrade work on Haugland will include cutting into the street, removing the asphalt, removing fill from underneath, and installing a large storm drain pipe approximately four metres under the surface, then refilling the area and covering it with new asphalt.

A manhole in the centre of the Eby Street and Haugland Avenue intersection will also be created, to connect the new pipe to the city’s storm system, which flows north to south along Eby Street. While this work is taking place, traffic along Eby Street will likely be one-lane only - though exact details of the traffic management plan are under currently under review by the City of Terrace and subject to change.

PCL will also be installing connections to the city’s existing water and sanitary lines on Haugland Avenue.

The exact start date the street work will be posted once PCL has received all necessary approvals from the City. Hours of work will be approximately 7 am to 5:30pm, seven days a week.

The first concrete pour happened on Monday, July 12 marking a milestone event on the Mills Memorial hospital site - construction of the new hospital has begun!

To date, much of the work on site has been preparing for construction. That includes clearing the land, installing fences and other safety precautions, bringing in equipment, and digging the foundation.

A number of local workers and businesses are benefitting from the Mills Memorial Hospital Replacement Project – and the project has only just begun.

With construction activity on site for little more than a month, more than 15 local businesses have already been contracted for a variety of jobs. Local suppliers and contractors are doing work such as environmental monitoring, trucking, cleaning and watering neighbourhood streets, surveying, waste removal, fuel and septic services, and more.

Throughout the life span of the project, PCL estimates 900 jobs will be created with up to 350 workers on site at a time.

In addition to the jobs created on the site, approximately 40 more will be created to support the out-of-town workers at a workcamp on the outskirts of town.