Standing tall over the city, the construction crane set up at the base of the hospital expansion project is a clear sign to all that a major development is underway in the lakecity.
The crane, which towers 200-feet tall and another 200-feet wide and is lit up with Christmas lights at night, is expected to be in Williams Lake for about eleven months, though many in the city wish it would stay longer.
Construction workers will come and go here long after the crane leaves to lend their skills to the $366 million, multi-year, state-of-the-art project.
“It is really exciting to see the project moving forward,” said Brad MacKendrick, senior project manager with Interior Health.
MacKendrick is tasked with keeping the project on time and on budget and gave the Williams Lake Tribune a tour of the site, which is transforming daily.
The development has two phases, with phase one being the new extension where the foundation is currently being built.
The extension, which will be completed over the next three years, will house a new pharmacy department, a new emergency department and registration area along with two levels of in-patient units which will almost double the number of beds in the hospital to 53. A new maternity unit will see six new beds, all in private rooms.
MacKendrick said the new extension will be the first of its kind in B.C. to allow for smudging in all in-patient rooms to accommodate the needs of Indigenous patients, with the new mechanical plant able to vent indoor air directly to the outdoors.
The plant is also designed to isolate possible outbreak areas as needed, and will physically bring the new extension about 26 feet higher than the existing hospital when complete.
Once phase one is finished at the end of 2026, phase two - renovating the existing hospital building - will begin.
That renovation will take another two years and will include a new, eight-bed psychiatric mental health unit. It will also house the main registration area for the hospital and an expanded acute care unit along with a new learning space for the UBC faculty of medicine. Health records will also be relocated within the existing hospital.
It is slated to be opened in the beginning of 2029.
Total construction workers at the site will peak at approximately 150-200 workers, many of whom will move to the lakecity for their time with the project.
MacKendrick himself has travelled the world working in construction, living in the UK and Australia. He relocated to Big Lake as part of his retirement plan, but when the hospital project came along, he jumped at the opportunity to be a part of such a large, exciting project.
For those interested in seeing more detailed plans of the hospital project, a display will be set up in the lobby some time in the new year.
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