March 25, 1999
(Works, Services and Transportation)

The following statement was issued today by Lloyd Matthews, Minister of Works, Services and Transportation (Acting). It was also read in the House of Assembly:

I rise today to report to Honourable Members that government's $130 million hospital redevelopment program for St. John's is on schedule and on budget.

There are currently 200 people employed on the five sites which make up the redevelopment program. They are the Janeway Child Health Centre, the Health Sciences Centre, St. Clare's Mercy Hospital, the Waterford Hospital, and the Memorial University Utilities Annex.

Today I would like to provide my honourable colleagues with an update on all five projects which comprise the hospital redevelopment program, beginning with the Janeway Child Health Centre.

Since September 1998, when the first contract for site and foundations was awarded to Pyramid Construction, a total of 11 contracts have been awarded for the new Janeway children's hospital.

The only significant contract remaining to be awarded is for site completion and landscaping. Work has progressed throughout the past mild winter and the Janeway is scheduled for completion in June 2000. The project budget, including HST, is $71.5 million.

Seven contracts, representing approximately 95 per cent of the work, have been awarded for renovations and building upgrading at the Health Sciences Centre. Total budget for this project is $20 million and it is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2000. It is expected that two or three small contracts will be awarded later this year for the balance of the work.

The renovation and building systems upgrading work at St. Clare's Mercy Hospital is the most challenging part of the total project. The total budget for work on St. Clare's is $23 million. To date, six major and several small contracts have been awarded, representing approximately 70 per cent of the project. Five contract packages, including a parking facility, remain to be tendered over the next several months. Work at St. Clare's is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2000.

Memorial University has awarded one contract for expansion and upgrading of the Utilities Annex to meet the future needs of the new Janeway Hospital and the expanded Health Sciences Complex. A second contract has been awarded for replacement of the existing emergency generators, which were subsequently determined to be unreliable for their intended purposes. Total project budget is $6.9 million and contract administration is being handled by Memorial University, with a scheduled completion date of January 2000.

Finally, I am pleased to report to Honourable Members that a $2 million renovation project to construct a new outpatient dialysis unit at the Waterford Hospital has been completed.

Thank you.

1999 03 25 2:20 p.m.