Alberta Health Services Central Zone plans to spend $19 million on infrastructure maintenance projects at health-care facilities in 2016-17.
Already underway is a $1.2-million renovation project at Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre for medication preparation areas on its intensive care, critical care and labour and delivery units to store and mix medication.
A $250,000 project to install three automated and secure doors with swipe card access at Red Deer hospital’s microbiology area has already been completed to meet biosafety requirements.
“Over the years we’ve repurposed a variety of areas to do a variety of different things. As we repurpose them, some of the infrastructure that was in place are things that we’d like to upgrade and change,” said chief zone officer Kerry Bales on Tuesday about the security doors.
“The infrastructure maintenance program funding is specifically to make sure that buildings are being maintained to proper standards and in good functional use.”
He said AHS regularly re-evaluates projects that are planned. Priority can change to make sure infrastructure maintenance program (IMP) funding is applied to the most critical projects and provide the best preventative maintenance.
IMP work is done on a rolling basis and there are always a variety of projects that are either underway, being planned for, or going into the design phase, he said.
Design work will begin later this year on a $500,000-renovation project to the reception, waiting room and nursing desks in the emergency department at Lacombe Hospital and Care Centre.
Bales said the design will focus on providing good patient flow to assist both staff and patients.
“The way that facilities were built several years ago had different design principles applied to them. Over the course of time some centres see growth so that does tax the layouts that used to be in place.”
Construction in Lacombe will start in late 2017 or early 2018.
A $2.5-million ventilation retrofit at Our Lady of the Rosary Hospital in Castor set to begin later this year and be completed by mid-2017.
A $9-million renovation to the emergency department, kitchen and birthing area at Stettler Hospital and Care Centre is slated to begin after 2017. The scope and details will be identified once additional planning is completed.
A $4.6-million renovation for sterilizing medical equipment at Rocky Mountain House Health Centre is scheduled to begin in 2017-18.
szielinski@www.reddeeradvocate.com