Premier to reveal details on new P.A. hospital

Project expected to cost $200M

REGINA Premier Scott Moe will be heading to Prince Albert on Friday for a “big announcement” about a new hospital for the city.

Health Minister Jim Reiter confirmed the visit after question period on Wednesday, after the NDP asked about a tender seeking consulting services on an infrastructure project “that might exceed $200 million in value.”

Reiter confirmed that the tender referred to a long-awaited hospital project in Prince Albert. He said more detail — possibly about size and site — will come when he and Moe visit the city on Friday.

Moe committed during question period to providing “100 per cent of the funding of that facility.”

The existing Victoria Hospital serves a region far beyond Prince Albert, extending well into northern Saskatchewan. Civic leaders, including Mayor Greg Dionne, have long complained about crowding there and called for the province to fund a new build. Dionne made it his top issue in the 2016 election.

Reiter agreed that capacity has simply not kept up with the population the hospital serves. He confirmed the project will cost more than $200 million.

He said the province is exploring options for how to build the hospital. He wasn’t able to confirm whether it will be built through a public-private partnership, an idea the NDP has sharply opposed.

“P3s are hotly debated,” Reiter said. “None of those decisions have been made.”

Meili said his party can commit to building a new hospital in Prince Albert through a conventional build using Saskatchewan com- panies, rather than through a P3.

“It’s about time that we actually get to a hospital being built,” he said. “New Democrats would build a new hospital in Prince Albert. We know that it’s needed.”

Reiter was not able to give a definite timeline for when the hospital will be built, again saying that more information will follow on Friday.