Construction on time and on budget: hospital official
Nov 25, 2008 - 04:30 AM
By Kristen Calis
AJAX -- Once the new and improved Ajax-Pickering hospital is up and running, it should make for a strong, more friendly and comfortable community hospital, says a hospital official.
The senior director of planning and capital redevelopment and support services, Rick Gowrie, led politicians, business partners, supporters and the media on a tour of the Rouge Valley Ajax and Pickering hospital's construction progress on Friday.
The $60-million redevelopment project, consisting of 70,000 square feet of new space and 70,000 square feet of renovated space, is expected to be complete in the fall of 2010. Patients can expect: a new emergency department; a new laboratory; a complex continuing care unit with a capacity of 30 beds; redesigned space for the diagnostic imaging and cardiac diagnostic areas; and, a new ambulatory care unit that will include space for out-patient procedures and a fracture clinic. The new emergency department is to be completed by August of 2009.
"We're 30 per cent complete," Mr. Gowrie said. "We're on time. We're on budget."
The emergency department, which currently sees more than 42,000 patients a year, will be able to handle 60,000. The ER is currently 8,500 square feet and was built for only about 20,000 patients annually.
"We're going up to about 21,000 (square feet)," Mr. Gowrie said.
Since temporary spaces are being set up to accommodate the areas that are under renovation, there have been some hiccups, Mr. Gowrie said, but mostly with parking. However, although the lot on the west side of the building was supposed to be closed until June, three-quarters of it re-opened last week, which has cleared up some of those problems. And, once the public sees the progress and the improvements the development will bring, Mr. Gowrie has noticed they get excited.
"I think we're getting some buy-in," he said.
Builder Aecon Buildings gives the hospital three-to-four weeks' notice before renovating a new area, so the hospital has time to prepare the logistics of the move and to set up a temporary space, Mr. Gowrie said. Schedule review meetings take place each month, which also keeps the project on track.
So far, the mental health outpatient unit has been completed (which is in its own building outside of the hospital), as well as admitting and registration areas and a new south parking lot.
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