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Contractor selected for EKRH pediatric redevelopment
Interior Health has taken the next step towards $750,000 in improvements to the East Kootenay Regional Hospital (EKRH) pediatric unit with the selection of Ledcor Construction Ltd. as the General Contractor for construction.
Ledcor was selected through a competitive tender process for Interior Health Pre-Qualified Contractors that was initiated in November. The project will be managed from Ledcor’s Kelowna office.
“I am totally in support of the IH’s decision to use the old ICU space for helping children,” said Kootenay East MLA Bill Bennett. “This initiative is an important improvement to our regional hospital.”
Currently, the two-bed pediatric unit is part of the hospital’s third floor medical unit. This project will see a new enhanced pediatric unit located next to EKRH’s maternity/neo-natal unit on the second floor (in the old ICU space), creating a combined Maternal Child Unit.
The new two-bed pediatric unit will be an updated, more kid-friendly space with separate rooms and bathrooms for each patient.
“I’d like to applaud the efforts of all those involved in bringing this project to where it is today – our site staff, physicians and leadership for their design input as well as the contract and support staff behind the scenes. Their work ensures this new unit will meet the needs of our pediatric patients for years to come,” said Erwin Malzer, IH board chair.
All areas will meet current pediatric standards and separate rooms will provide young patients and families with more privacy. Each room will also have a sleeper chair to provide a more comfortable place for parents to stay with their kids. One room will meet airborne isolation standards to support pediatric patients with contagious or potentially contagious illnesses. The move also brings pediatrics into a secure, locked unit.
The Ministry of Health is funding $450,000 of the project, with the remaining $300,000 investment coming from the Kootenay East Regional Hospital District (KERHD).
“The Kootenay East Regional Hospital District board is proud to support the ongoing improvements to the regional hospital in Cranbrook,” said KERHD chair and Mayor of the District of Elkford Dean McKerracher. “It’s exciting to see Interior Health taking the next step in this project and the board looks forward to the start of construction.”
Construction will begin early in the New Year and IH anticipates the new pediatric unit will be operational by the summer of 2017
It was funding commitments in the fall of 2014 from the Cranbrook Health Care Auxiliary and East Kootenay Foundation for Health (EKFH) that helped pave the way for the new pediatric unit.
The auxiliary donated $441,000 and EKFH donated $309,000 for equipment for the hospital’s new intensive care unit, which allowed Ministry and KERHD to redirect $750,000 previously allocated to the ICU to the pediatric project.
Interior Health