The reality of building a new hospital in Prince Edward County took another step forward today (Tuesday).
Bay of Quinte and Minister of Energy MPP Todd Smith announced on behalf of Health Minister Christine Elliott the redevelopment project is moving on to stage four of the five-stage process.
The approval means QHC can now begin to prepare detailed designs, finalize all tender documents, tender the project and evaluate proposals.
“It also gives QHC the ability to ask the Ministry of Health for the funding to proceed and that could come next year, and by early 2024, we should have shovels in the ground on this site. So that would be step five.”
The announcement was made near the heli-pad at Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital, the site of the new hospital.
QHC President and CEO Stacey Daub says this is a very exciting announcement and means exceptional health care for generations to come in the county.
“The next period of time takes about 18-24 months, it’s extremely detailed work and what it really does is enable us to put it out to market so that we can find the right contractor who will build the vision this community has thought of.”
She says this hospital will be the heart and soul of the community and thanked those who relentlessly pursued this idea and made it a reality.
“I think there were a lot of people who didn’t believe it was possible. At first, they didn’t think it was possible that we could build a hospital in Prince Edward County, and then they didn’t think it was possible that this community was capable of getting behind, and Back the Build has really shown this community has enormous generosity and belief in local healthcare.”
Following this timeline, construction could begin as early as spring 2024.
When built, the new Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital will have a 24-hour emergency department, 18 inpatient beds (expandable to 23), diagnostic imaging, a surgical suite, a dialysis unit and ambulatory care. It will also feature state-of-the-art design to promote infection prevention and control.
Mayor Steve Ferguson was thrilled they are now at the point of no return.
“You know it’s been an extraordinary journey to get us to this point, years in the making and it’s a long convoluted process that I guess any hospital redevelopment has to go through, but we’re absolutely thrilled that this is at this point.”
He says the fact the project is moving into the final stage before groundbreaking is welcome news for residents and visitors alike.
The doors to the new Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital are on track to be open in 2027.
