St. Mary’s Hospital project phase two awarded to Graham Construction

SECHELT, BC – Construction at St. Mary’s Hospital is posed to move into Phase Two with Graham Construction and Engineering selected as the company to lead the hospital’s expansion work.

“This project will make a dramatic difference to the people of Sechelt, by increasing the size of their hospital by over 50 per cent, and providing top-of-the-line patient care,” said Health Services Minister Kevin Falcon. “It will also maximize efficiencies, and provide state of the art infection control procedures, improving patient safety.”

Five general contractors submitted bids during the tender period that closed on August 31. Graham Construction was as formally awarded the contact on September 14.

Site servicing and excavation began at St. Mary’s in April. Work on Phase Two will begin within the next two weeks. Phase Two includes construction of the new 5,400 square metre expansion to the existing facility. When complete, the hospital’s actual footprint will be enlarged to 11,500 square metres.

“Work on this project – the largest one currently ongoing within Vancouver Coastal Health -- is progressing nicely and on-budget,” said Wendy Hansson, Chief Operating Officer, VCH-Coastal. “And as we move forward with Graham Construction as the successful Phase Two bidder, we’re confident this new phase of construction will go as smoothly as the first.”

The total project cost is $44.15 million. The Ministry of Health Services will provide $26.25 million, while the Sunshine Coast Regional Hospital District will provide $15.9 million. In addition, the St. Mary’s Hospital Foundation and St. Mary’s Hospital Auxiliary will contribute $2 million toward the purchase of new equipment.

The provincial contribution includes $2.4 million from the Province’s Public Sector Energy Conservation Agreement (PSECA) fund, to enable the building-expansion component of the project to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification.

When complete, the new St. Mary’s will offer single patient rooms, with more acute-care bed capacity; a renovated, larger ambulatory care and radiology areas, a new emergency department and greater surgical capacity.

After construction of the new expansion is complete, the construction focus will shift to the renovation and reconfiguration of the hospital’s existing space. This phase of construction will ensure the existing facility seamlessly meshes with the new addition.

St. Mary’s, a community hospital in Sechelt, is a 38-bed accredited acute care community hospital located on the Sunshine Coast, serving the communities of Langdale, Gibsons, Roberts Creek, Halfmoon Bay and Pender Harbour. It provides medical, surgical, obstetrics, extended care, diagnostic and emergency services to a population of 27,000.

When complete, St. Mary’s will set a new standard for patient care, infection control and green building design, not only for this community hospital in Sechelt, but also for future hospitals across the province.

The newly renovated St. Mary’s will offer patients the highest standard of infection control through conversion of all patient rooms to single occupancy. This upgrade makes St. Mary’s the first hospital within VCH to offer this significant infection control feature. As research shows, this design ultimately pays for itself by reducing the length of patients’ hospital visits.

VCH is responsible for the delivery of $2.9 billion in community, hospital and residential care to more than one million people in communities, including Richmond, Vancouver, the North Shore, Sunshine Coast, Sea to Sky corridor, Powell River, Bella Bella and Bella Coola.

Media contactVancouver Coastal Health
Trudi Beutel
Public Affairs Officer
Phone: 604-708-5282
Cell: 604-812-1847
Email: Trudi.Beutel@VCH.ca