Airboy said:
Soooo, talking with a friend that was involved but is now moving onto another project. There is no movement at all right now. If Planning is being done it is at the AHS and AH level and not the consulting level.
All the resources are on the Red Deer hospital and they are waiting for the Con docs. So Red Deer may get started in the fall or the new year. Then maybe they can start on the SW Campus development. So say 5-10 years for this one to be of use. Sound like this is going to be a huge project , in the multi billion range.

Also some planning has started on a stand alone Stolley. But again no commitment to get this done any time soon.
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The waits at city hospitals are insane--I had a staff member waiting 14 hours in an Edmonton ER for emergency treatment on his eye. So a ten year wait for a hospital that is desperately needed today sounds about right.

Of course with Red Deer voting UCP in both ridings and Edmonton NDP across the board, RD's facility was always going to take priority.
 
In addition to lobbying MLAs like Dale Nally and Searle Turton, the key is also to get area municipal councils onboard. It's not enough that Edmonton City Council wants the SW hospital built. Everyone knows that and nobody at the Legislature cares. But if multiple councils in the area start lobbying for it--Strathcona County, Beaumont, Leduc City, Leduc County, Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County, Enoch Band Council, etc.--then we might see the province reassess its priorities.

We need more leadership on this file from councils outside NDP Edmonton. If the facility gets built, EVERYONE in the Capital Region benefits from the added capacity, even if they live nowhere near the hospital.
 
There was a time I remember that St Albert was mentioned in expansion comments. That was after the emergency upgrades. There is space on the North side.
 
TravellingChris said:
In addition to lobbying MLAs like Dale Nally and Searle Turton, the key is also to get area municipal councils onboard. It's not enough that Edmonton City Council wants the SW hospital built. Everyone knows that and nobody at the Legislature cares. But if multiple councils in the area start lobbying for it--Strathcona County, Beaumont, Leduc City, Leduc County, Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Parkland County, Enoch Band Council, etc.--then we might see the province reassess its priorities.

We need more leadership on this file from councils outside NDP Edmonton. If the facility gets built, EVERYONE in the Capital Region benefits from the added capacity, even if they live nowhere near the hospital.
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Agreed—getting some of the blue area in the metro will help—but tbh probably be a hard sell to anyone that isn’t Leduc. Does Spruce Grove or Sherwood Park really care about about championing a hospital in SW Edmonton, even when it makes inherent sense that it will greatly help their riding populations access to healthcare by alleviating burdens on facilities nearby? Politics =/= logic
 
Stoney Plain and Sherwood park both have Health Centers but having a major center that does have all the services will benefit them as well. Sherwood park does not have in patient care. Closest is the Alex or Grey Nuns.
 
northlands said:
Agreed—getting some of the blue area in the metro will help—but tbh probably be a hard sell to anyone that isn’t Leduc. Does Spruce Grove or Sherwood Park really care about about championing a hospital in SW Edmonton, even when it makes inherent sense that it will greatly help their riding populations access to healthcare by alleviating burdens on facilities nearby? Politics =/= logic
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There's precedent here. When the Henday was being built (in stages) there was a concerted effort by area mayors (not just the City of Edmonton) to press the province to get the entire project done. Even though the Henday is primarily within Edmonton. mayors from outside the city spoke with one voice and told the provincial government that this was their #1 priority. They recognized that a completed Henday system benefited everyone in the region.

The same approach needs to be taken with the hospital.
 
Without disclosing too much and being as vague as I can, I do have inside knowledge about what's going on with this project.

VERY long story short, this hospital will get built. There has been way too much money already spent on schematics, design etc. for this to not proceed. There are two main problems right now:

1) The site itself. The pipeline crossings running through this site are very complicated and there are multiple parties involved that are making negotiations slow. Removing and replacing these lines is a huge undertaking in and of itself and no one really knows when this issue will sort itself out.

2) Cost. Initial estimate was that this facility would cost around $1.2 billion. However that estimate has ballooned to at least triple the initial estimated cost. The estimated cost is so large and so off the initial mark that it's forcing various governmental bodies to rethink how to approach design, needs, etc. to have this brought down to a more reasonable cost. The original goal and purpose was to have this hospital be a world class facility with all the bells and whistles that a modern hospital should and NEEDS in order to provide the best care possible to a large population group. Basically, the government is stuck trying to figure out how to reduce some costs without cutting or removing much needed specialized care in order to lessen the burden on the other hospitals in the city and surrounding area.

No one has an estimate as to when this could even be completed. But they are way too deep in this to back out and there's a ton of moving parts ongoing that have to get sorted out before this can move along.
 
Munanyo said:
Without disclosing too much and being as vague as I can, I do have inside knowledge about what's going on with this project.

VERY long story short, this hospital will get built. There has been way too much money already spent on schematics, design etc. for this to not proceed. There are two main problems right now:

1) The site itself. The pipeline crossings running through this site are very complicated and there are multiple parties involved that are making negotiations slow. Removing and replacing these lines is a huge undertaking in and of itself and no one really knows when this issue will sort itself out.

2) Cost. Initial estimate was that this facility would cost around $1.2 billion. However that estimate has ballooned to at least triple the initial estimated cost. The estimated cost is so large and so off the initial mark that it's forcing various governmental bodies to rethink how to approach design, needs, etc. to have this brought down to a more reasonable cost. The original goal and purpose was to have this hospital be a world class facility with all the bells and whistles that a modern hospital should and NEEDS in order to provide the best care possible to a large population group. Basically, the government is stuck trying to figure out how to reduce some costs without cutting or removing much needed specialized care in order to lessen the burden on the other hospitals in the city and surrounding area.

No one has an estimate as to when this could even be completed. But they are way too deep in this to back out and there's a ton of moving parts ongoing that have to get sorted out before this can move along.
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#1 getting right of way agreements in place along with the necessary upgrades to existing lines is one thing (standard changed in 2019 to require larger pipe depending on proximity to developments), but talk of completely removing and relocating pipelines is on a whole other level. Having dealt with an issue recently where there a couple pipelines near a project was a pain enough. How many lines are on the site here?
 
Munanyo said:
Without disclosing too much and being as vague as I can, I do have inside knowledge about what's going on with this project.

VERY long story short, this hospital will get built. There has been way too much money already spent on schematics, design etc. for this to not proceed. There are two main problems right now:

1) The site itself. The pipeline crossings running through this site are very complicated and there are multiple parties involved that are making negotiations slow. Removing and replacing these lines is a huge undertaking in and of itself and no one really knows when this issue will sort itself out.

2) Cost. Initial estimate was that this facility would cost around $1.2 billion. However that estimate has ballooned to at least triple the initial estimated cost. The estimated cost is so large and so off the initial mark that it's forcing various governmental bodies to rethink how to approach design, needs, etc. to have this brought down to a more reasonable cost. The original goal and purpose was to have this hospital be a world class facility with all the bells and whistles that a modern hospital should and NEEDS in order to provide the best care possible to a large population group. Basically, the government is stuck trying to figure out how to reduce some costs without cutting or removing much needed specialized care in order to lessen the burden on the other hospitals in the city and surrounding area.

No one has an estimate as to when this could even be completed. But they are way too deep in this to back out and there's a ton of moving parts ongoing that have to get sorted out before this can move along.
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Great info, but I fully 100% believe the UCP would walk away from this project, and cite all the wasted costs on the NDP's decision to purchase this land (despite the UCP doing site prep).

As well to point #1 - how exactly DID that happen? Where was the due diligence? Why did they buy a plot of land with multiple active pipelines to build a hospital? What was the mitigation strategy and why was it removing/replacing/rerouting existing pipelines? How has no journalist done a FOIP request to figure out what happened there?
 
westcoastjos said:
#1 getting right of way agreements in place along with the necessary upgrades to existing lines is one thing (standard changed in 2019 to require larger pipe depending on proximity to developments), but talk of completely removing and relocating pipelines is on a whole other level. Having dealt with an issue recently where there a couple pipelines near a project was a pain enough. How many lines are on the site here?
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There's multiple (I think 3 from what I heard) but can't confirm the exact number.
northlands said:
Great info, but I fully 100% believe the UCP would walk away from this project, and cite all the wasted costs on the NDP's decision to purchase this land (despite the UCP doing site prep).

As well to point #1 - how exactly DID that happen? Where was the due diligence? Why did they buy a plot of land with multiple active pipelines to build a hospital? What was the mitigation strategy and why was it removing/replacing/rerouting existing pipelines? How has no journalist done a FOIP request to figure out what happened there?
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I honestly don't know why that specific site was chosen, especially since it wasn't some big secret that there would be some serious logistical challenges to build a facility of this size and magnitude there. I could try and see if I can get some info on that so if I do I'll be sure to report back here. One thing I do know though, is that there are some high ups who have been also wondering why in the hell was this site chosen in the first place.
 
It is my understanding the province owned all of the property west of 127 street and used to lease it to the university for farm research. As to why they pic that particular spot is a mystery.
 
Glenco said:
It is my understanding the province owned all of the property west of 127 street and used to lease it to the university for farm research. As to why they pic that particular spot is a mystery.
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Munanyo said:
There's multiple (I think 3 from what I heard) but can't confirm the exact number.

I honestly don't know why that specific site was chosen, especially since it wasn't some big secret that there would be some serious logistical challenges to build a facility of this size and magnitude there. I could try and see if I can get some info on that so if I do I'll be sure to report back here. One thing I do know though, is that there are some high ups who have been also wondering why in the hell was this site chosen in the first place.
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It's not a mystery, it's all about location.

Alberta is lacking in infrastructure. This site was chosen specifically because it's accessibility. If constructed it will be accessible by via the Henday and Highway II, not to mention bus and LRT. It's location is ideal to reduce strain from the Red Deer Regional Hospital as well. There have been talks between Edmonton city administration and the provincial government about creating a new overpass connecting Highway II to 30 Ave SW, which has room to be twinned for additional traffic.

It's the best possible location for a new hospital.
 
edmontonidiot said:
It's not a mystery, it's all about location.

Alberta is lacking in infrastructure. This site was chosen specifically because it's accessibility. If constructed it will be accessible by via the Henday and Highway II, not to mention bus and LRT. It's location is ideal to reduce strain from the Red Deer Regional Hospital as well. There have been talks between Edmonton city administration and the provincial government about creating a new overpass connecting Highway II to 30 Ave SW, which has room to be twinned for additional traffic.

It's the best possible location for a new hospital.
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Minus the existing complicated privately owned infrastructure. Something, something due diligence. I imagine plenty of sites out there are quite accessible with existing buildings or other private interests; it doesn't necessarily make it a good choice for public projects.
 
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