April 24, 2009

PLENARY HEALTH NIAGARA

The majority of subtrade contracts on the new Niagara Health System health-care complex in St. Catharines are expected to be awarded to firms in the Golden Horseshoe.

Projects

Niagara health complex set to break ground in St. Catharines, Ontario

PATRICIA WILLIAMS

staff writer

Construction is scheduled to get under way in May on the Niagara Health System’s (NHS) new health-care complex in St. Catharines, Ont.

The AFP project, being delivered by Plenary Health Niagara, is expected to provide a sizeable boost to the regional subcontracting community,

Construction is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2012 by the team that includes Plenary Group, Borealis Infrastructure, PCL Constructors Canada Inc., Bregman + Hamann Architects, Silver Thomas Hanley Architects and Johnson Controls.

“The construction schedule is aggressive, but achievable,” Plenary Health chief executive officer Mike Marasco said in an interview.

In a joint statement, Niagara Health System and Infrastructure Ontario said the complex will provide regional services never before available in Niagara, including treatment for cancer, heart disease and longer-term mental health disease.

In addition to a new community-based hospital, the facility will include:

•The Walker Family Cancer Centre to provide close-to-home treatment for the more than 1,200 cancer patients who currently travel to Hamilton or Toronto for life-saving radiation treatment.

•A new regional longer-term mental health centre with longer-term inpatient mental health beds, combined with acute inpatient mental health beds and ambulatory care services for Niagara residents.

•A new regional cardiac catheterization centre to provide diagnostic investigation services, reducing hospitalizations for heart disease, lowering wait times and improving access to treatment.

The hospital of up to 375 beds will offer acute and critical inpatient services, surgical, emergency and ambulatory services available under one roof for residents of St. Catharines, Thorold, Niagara-on-the-Lake and area.

Other project features include: CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear) containment capability to deal with infectious outbreaks and disasters; and state-of-the-art operating suites designed to take advantage of sophisticated image-guided and laparoscopic surgery.

A patient-focused site design includes healing gardens, ponds and walking paths.

The project has been designed to achieve LEED certification.

At the peak of construction activity, about 1,000 workers are expected to be on site daily.

Marasco said PCL intends to maximize use of local subtrades. The majority of this work is expected to be awarded to firms in the Golden Horseshoe area, he said.

“As an example, our mechanical contractor, Sayers & Associates, has a significant (local) presence, particularly since they have an office in St. Catharines,” he said.

“On a hospital project like this, the mechanical costs account for a substantial amount of the total project costs.”

The specific amount of work to be allocated to local subcontractors will not be known until the tendering process is complete, Marasco said.

“But we can safety say that a good portion of the 2.6 million person-hours of work that will be completed during the construction period will go to workers in the region.”

Plenary Health Niagara has signed a contract with the Niagara Health System to design, build, finance and maintain the complex over a 30-year period. In today’s dollars, the contract is worth approximately $759 million.

Marasco said site clearing is scheduled to get under way in May on the site, followed by demolition of a barn, topsoil removal and bulk excavation for foundations. Work on the concrete structure is scheduled to start in August.

Substantial completion is scheduled for November 2012.

Located at First Street and Fourth Avenue, the complex will replace the aging St. Catharines General site and Ontario Street site, formerly the Hotel Dieu Hospital.

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