Interior Health Gets the Keys to New Building

Infusion Health and Graham Design Builders presented Interior Health with the keys to the Kelowna General Hospital (KGH) Centennial Building at a ceremony on January 26, 2012.

The ceremonial handover of the keys marks the successful completion of construction of the new six-storey tower, which is slated to begin receiving patients on May 27.

“We are extremely grateful for the hard work and dedication of the skilled team at Graham Design Builders and Stantec Consulting,” said Infusion Board Chair Damien Joy. “Thanks to their exemplary effort, and that of their sub-trades, we were able to complete this project ahead of schedule and on budget.”

Infusion Health KVH General Partnership is the company selected by Interior Health in 2008 to design, build, finance and maintain new hospital facilities in Kelowna and Vernon. Graham Design Builders was the company hired by Infusion to design and build the new tower. Stantec was in turn hired by Graham to do the design.

“This project is another excellent example of the teamwork at the heart of the Infusion Health partnership,” said Dave Corcoran, Graham Design Builders’ Project Director. “We are proud to have been part of building what we believe is one of the best health care facilities in the province today.”

A key aspect of the partnership between Interior Health and Infusion Health is the agreement to have Infusion Health maintain the facilities at KGH. Their services provider, Black & MacDonald, has been providing facilities maintenance services at KGH and Vernon Jubilee Hospital since July 1, 2009, and will continue to do so until 2042.

“On behalf of the Interior Health Authority, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Infusion Health and Graham Design Builders for the outstanding service they have provided to date,” said Norman Embree, Interior Health Board Chair. “This has been an extremely productive partnership, and we look forward to continued collaboration with the team at Black & MacDonald in the months and years to come as they ensure the smooth maintenance of these muchneeded facilities.”

The new Centennial Building adds 360,000 square feet of space to the KGH site. Taken with the UBC Medical School Clinical Academic campus it is equivalent to the size of Kelowna’s Home Depot, Wal-Mart and Rona stores, and will consolidate services currently dispersed throughout KGH.

“Black & MacDonald specializes in providing facilities maintenance services across Canada, and we are dedicated to ensuring Interior Health receives top-of-class service across its hospital campuses, both here in Kelowna and in Vernon,” said Neil McPhee, KVHP Manager, Black & MacDonald.

Highlights of the new Centennial Building include:

• new expanded emergency department quadruple the size of the current one

• consolidated and centralized five new operating rooms

• new renal dialysis department

• relocation and expansion of the McNair Inpatient Psychiatry Unit

• relocation of medical inpatient beds

• new rooftop heli-pad

• concentration of day procedures in one large, new comfortable area

• full integration with existing hospital

• space vacated in current hospital leaves space for other programs and services

About Infusion Health KVH General Partnership

Infusion Health KVH General Partnership is comprised of Bilfinger Berger Project Investments Inc. and John Laing Investments Ltd. as the consortium leads, Graham Design Builders as the construction team, Stantec as the design team, and Black & McDonald Ltd. as the facility management team. The partnership was formed in 2007 to oversee the expansion of Kelowna General Hospital and Vernon Jubilee Hospital, the largest health care capital construction project in the history of Interior Health.

For more information:

Sara Grady ~ 250.212.0599