B.C. Premier Christy Clark was joined by several other dignitaries as the sod turning ceremony to officially get construction underway on the $312.5 million expansion of Penticton Regional Hospital took place Tuesday morning in Penticton. Michael Brydon, chair of the Okanagan Similkameen Regional Hospital District, is shown to Clark’s left. It’s expected to take more than three years to complete the hospital expansion. (Photo supplied)
British Columbia’s Premier Christy Clark was joined by numerous dignitaries from across the region for the official groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday at the site of the new patient care tower and parkade at Pentiction Regional Hospital.
Speaking before a large contingent of hospital administration, staff and patients, Clark told those in attendance the hospital expansion project will result in improved health care for residents of Penticton and the entire South Okanagan region for generations to come.
Clark thanked all those who have worked hard to make it a reality.
“We all know someone who has needed hospital care and when that happens they deserve the best possible care, close to home in the South Okanagan and Similkameen,” she said. This is the value of a strong, growing economy, it gives us the ability to make investments in the services we all depend on.”
The hospital opened its doors at the current location in the early 1950s and it has been 25 years since the last major renovation.
The 281,700-square-foot patient care tower will bring together outpatient care services into one building, provide five modern operating rooms, expand the medical device processing/sterilization unit to nearly triple its current size and provide three floors of single-occupancy inpatient rooms with private washrooms.
Also included in the new tower is expanded space for the UBC Faculty of Medicine program.
“This is a historic day for health care in the South Okanagan and Similkameen,” said MLA Dan Ashton. “This expansion of our regional hospital will have long-lasting positive impacts in our community through job creation and improved patient experiences.”
Janice Perrino, executive director of the South Okanagan Similkameen Medical Foundation, has worked tirelessly on the project, along with Ashton. She said Tuesday that she felt wonderful.
On July 30, 2014, the B.C. government announced approval of the business plan for a new patient care tower and parkade at Penticton Regional Hospital.
The Penticton Regional Hospital Project will be constructed in two phases. Phase one includes the construction of a new patient care tower and parkade. The tower will feature a new ambulatory care centre with outpatient services including cardiology, neurology, orthopedics, respiratory, pre-surgical screening, maternal/child clinics, and lab satellite medical imaging, surgical services including five operating rooms, three minor procedure rooms, two endoscopy rooms, one cystoscopy room, PICC line/urodynamic room; and infusion services.
There will also be 84 inpatient beds in single patient rooms each with its own washroom and a new medical device reprocessing unit.
Phase two involves the renovation of vacated areas in the current hospital to allow the expansion of the emergency department into a space almost four times the size of the current department, as well as renovations to existing support areas of pharmacy, laundry and materiel (supplies and equipment) stores.
Full construction will begin very soon and the project is expected to take more than three years to complete. The total capital budget for the project is $312.5-million. The Okanagan-Similkameen Regional Hospital District is providing $117-million, the South Okanagan Similkameen Medical Foundation is contributing $20-million, Interior Health is providing $14.4-million and the provincial portion is $161.1-million.
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Premier Christy Clark lifts a shovel at the official sod-turning ceremony for the new patient care tower and parkade at Penticton Regional Hospital. (Photo supplied)
