Hospital price tag revealed

Nipissing MPP Monique Smith
News Release

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Construction of the new North Bay Regional Health Centre (NBRHC) is on track to break ground on March 24, 2007. North Bay General Hospital and the Northeast Mental Health Centre reached financial close with Plenary Health to build, finance and maintain the new hospital. This milestone signals that all the contractual steps have been completed and construction can now begin.

Plenary Health will be paid $551 million in today’s dollars over 30 years. Just over half of that represents the pure construction cost of the new 720,000 square foot facility. The remainder is for ongoing building maintenance, repair and renewal of the hospital throughout the lifetime of the contract, and project financing. According to a value for money assessment by PriceWaterhouse Coopers, the NBRHC project demonstrates projected savings of $56.7 million under the alternative financing and procurement approach compared to a traditional approach.

“The final piece of the puzzle is now in place," said MPP Monique Smith. "We are delighted that our project is going forward. While the number may appear large, it includes maintenance costs for thirty years and a guarantee that our hospital will be delivered on time and on budget."

“This agreement ensures that the hospital is built to the highest standards and we will have a structure maintained in top condition for the entire 30-year period of this agreement,” said Mark Hurst, North Bay General Hospital President and CEO. “On behalf of both hospital boards, I want to thank members of our community, hospital staff, and the government for their strong commitment and support, which made this project possible. I know everyone is excited for construction to begin.”

“We have met the challenge of our local share of this project and, as we have stated in the past, we will not be returning to our municipalities and donors for additional dollars towards the capital costs of our new health centre,” stated Hurst. “Gathering our local share was a challenging effort and without the tremendous support of our donors and our surrounding municipalities would not have been achieved. I urge our donors to continue to honour their pledges to ensure we meet our campaign totals, which have been included in our local share financing plan,” explained Hurst.

“Staff at the Northeast Mental Health Centre are looking forward to strengthening our role as the specialized mental health service provider for northeastern Ontario in a state of the art mental health facility," says Bob Cunningham, president and chief executive officer. "We are also excited about our partnership with the North Bay and District Hospital as co-owners of the North Bay Regional Health Centre."

“A tremendous milestone was reached today – a milestone which paves the way for improved access to health care in North Bay and surrounding communities,” said David Caplan, Minister of Public Infrastructure Renewal. “Our government has taken steps to ensure that in addition to providing the bricks and mortar for the new hospital, there are investments set aside to maintain and rehabilitate the building properly for 30 years.”

“The new North Bay Regional Health Centre will meet the needs of a growing population and provide a modern facility for local residents,” said George Smitherman, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care. “By investing in hospitals, we are helping to ensure that first class health services are available to all Ontarians.”

The Plenary Health team consists of Plenary Group, Deutsche Bank AG, PCL Constructors Canada and Johnson Controls International.

Infrastructure Ontario will work with the North Bay General Hospital and the Northeast Mental Health Centre to manage the construction of the North Bay Regional Health Centre, which will remain publicly owned, publicly controlled and publicly accountable. Infrastructure Ontario is a Crown corporation dedicated to managing some of the Province’s larger and more complex infrastructure renewal projects – ensuring they are built on time and on budget.

The project is guided by principles outlined in the Province’s Building a Better Tomorrow framework, which ensures public ownership of core assets such as hospitals, schools and water and wastewater facilities. The North Bay Regional Health Centre project is one of many infrastructure projects being constructed, upgraded and modernized under ReNew Ontario, the government’s five-year, $30-billion plus public infrastructure investment plan.

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