Pomerleau Healthcare Partners has been awarded a fixed-price design-build contract worth $1.8 billion to construct the new Weeneebayko Area Health Authority project in Moosonee and Moose Factory.
The redevelopment project, which has been in the works for more than 15 years, involves the construction of a 419,311-square-foot health-care campus that will include a 36-bed acute care hospital with 100 per cent private rooms; a 32-bed long-term Elder lodge; staff residences; a patient and family hostel; and an ambulatory care clinic.
Designed to replace crumbling infrastructure in the coastal communities of James Bay and Hudson Bay, the state-of-the-art hospital will serve roughly 12,000 people living in the region.
Federal funding of $1.2 billion for the project was confirmed earlier this year.
“Weeneebayko Area Health Authority is proud to partner with Infrastructure Ontario and Pomerleau Healthcare Partners on this historic project that will serve the communities in our region for generations to come,” Lynne Innes, president and CEO of the health authority, said in an Oct. 4 news release.
“Once completed, the new health-care campus will have 36 beds/private rooms, allowing us to provide top quality care as close to home as possible.”
In the release, Weeneebayko and the province said criteria used to select Pomerleau included having the “required construction experience and financial capacity to deliver a project of this size and complexity.”
The process was overseen by a third-party fairness advisor.
Headquartered in Saint-Georges, Que., Pomerleau has more than 60 years of experience in the construction industry, with offices across Canada.
Some of its other health-care-related projects include the University of Montreal Hospital Research Centre, the Research Centre and Central Utility Plant at the McGill University Health Centre, and the Gander and Grand Falls-Windsor Long-Term Care Facilities in Newfoundland.
The Weeneebayko facility will be constructed under a public-private partnership (P3) design-build-finance (DBF) model.
According to the release, Pomerleau has begun site work, and full construction will get underway this fall.
It's expected the health-care facility will be ready to welcome patients in 2030.
