NIAGARA, ON – Members of the media are invited to attend a Design Open House hosted by the Niagara Health System (NHS) in partnership with Plenary Health on Thursday, December 11, 2008.
Artist's concepts, layouts and a scale model of the health-care complex, including the 375-bed acute care community hospital and Walker Family Cancer Centre, will be available for viewing.
The informal drop-in session runs from 3-7 p.m. with presentations by project team members occurring at 4, 5 and 6 p.m. to highlight the innovative technologies, environmentally friendly design and leading-edge infection prevention and control measures to be incorporated into the new facility.
Planning for the new health-care complex has been a collaborative effort by over 200 staff, physicians and volunteers with information also gained from input provided by front-line staff and the community. Future open houses will be held in the New Year across the region to gain community input into further design development.
| What: | NHS Design Open House |
| When: | Thursday, December 11, 2008 Drop in session: 3 – 7 p.m. Presentations: 4, 5 and 6 p.m. |
| Where: | Ontario Street Site, 155 Ontario Street St. Catharines ON 6th floor boardroom |
Complimentary parking will be provided.
Backgrounder
In August, following a four-month evaluation of the three submitted bids over the course of this summer, NHS, in partnership with Infrastructure Ontario, selected Plenary Health as its preferred bidder. Subsequently, the NHS moved forward with negotiations and signed a contract in September, striking an official partnership with Plenary Health.
Since this milestone, known as Commercial Close, Plenary Health has been actively working towards Financial Close where all funds required to build the facility will be committed. Plenary Health also recently completed the formal submission of all documents required for the Site Plan Agreement with the City of St. Catharines. This submission included floor plans, descriptions of exterior elevations, grading, servicing and landscaping.
Following Financial Close and the City of St. Catharines' approval of site plan documents, Plenary Health will secure building permits for the foundation and structure, as well as permits with the Ministry of Transportation for the surrounding roadways and fully mobilize to design, build, finance and maintain the facility over 30 years - for a fixed price and by a fixed date.
Major construction on the property is slated to begin in late Spring 2009.
The NHS and Infrastructure Ontario are committed to confirming the project cost and completion date with the public at Financial Close of the project, as well as organizing an official groundbreaking ceremony in the near future.
The new health-care complex to be built at First Street and Fourth Avenue in St. Catharines will function as an acute-care community hospital, replacing the aging St. Catharines General and Ontario Street Sites with the capacity for up 375 beds. Acute and critical inpatient services, surgical, emergency and ambulatory services will all be available under one roof.
The facility will also house new regional services for all residents of Niagara including cardiac catheterization, longer-term mental health services and comprehensive cancer care services to be provided at the Walker Family Cancer Centre.
