The company building the new Grande Prairie Regional Hospital has 15 days to come up with a plan to get the wayward project back on track.
Infrastructure Minister Sandra Jansen said on Monday the build is “not progressing as it should.”
“This is a very serious step and not something we are doing lightly,” she said. “We have worked closely with the construction manager to resolve the issues but the bottom line is simply that the hospital is not progressing as it should.”
The notice of default to Graham Construction orders the company to submit a plan to get the build back on track within 15 days or face termination.
“Our responsibility is to the people of Grande Prairie and area who deserve a new and modern hospital. They’ve waited a long time for this hospital to be completed and we must take appropriate action to make sure it gets built.”
According to a community update posted this summer, the building envelope and shell work, including insulation, the roof and all windows, is complete, and inside work including wall-framing and drywalling is 70-per-cent done.
Graham Construction received the contract for the 172-bed facility in 2011. That’s 11 more beds than the current Queen Elizabeth II facility, and the plan provides room to add another 60.
The new hospital would also make Grande Prairie the fifth city in Alberta to offer radiation therapy in a “state-of-the-art” cancer centre featuring two radiation vaults.
It would also have eight operating rooms with space for more, an MRI unit and 4,000 square metres of its 64,000 sq. m would be dedicated to teaching.
