Together, these measures saved approximately $1.5 million, eliminated more than 38,200 hours of onsite labor and shortening the schedule by about six months. This offset the pandemic-related delay in getting the project underway, enabling the team to meet both the original delivery date and the $132-million budget.

Photo by Revette Studio 2024, courtesy of LeChase Construction Services

To keep the hospital fully operational during the four-year construction phase, the team developed a 25-phase plan that began with the addition of a new generator building and a temporary oxygen farm to provide uninterrupted services. Once three new high-capacity generators were installed, tested and operational, the old units were removed to begin excavation for the tower. Working around hospital operations, deliveries requiring crane picks were limited to a two-hour window once a week.

Three tie-ins were required between the new tower and existing hospital, including a challenging connection on the first floor that required cutting through walls of the existing hospital. Temporary enclosures built around the openings kept noise, dust and particulates out of active hospital areas.

Patients now have private, more spacious rooms that are equipped with negative ventilation to create isolation space in case of future pandemics.

The emergency department has more than doubled its size, featuring five zones with dedicated nurse stations and four trauma bays with direct access to the ambulance entrance and trauma elevators.