The Nova Scotia government and the Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA) unveiled a milestone in the redevelopment of the QEII Health Sciences Centre, as plans for the new Halifax Infirmary site were unveiled.
“The Halifax Infirmary is the heart of the redevelopment of the QEII,” said Premier Stephen McNeil. “The new facilities will have the most advanced equipment and technology to handle the most complex care in Atlantic Canada. This will help reduce wait times, provide continuous uninterrupted care, as well as help recruit and retain doctors, nurses and other health professionals.”
The expansion of the Halifax Infirmary site will include:
- A new QEII Cancer Centre that provides all cancer care services in one location. Services will be relocated from the VG site to the Halifax Infirmary site;
- An expanded inpatient care centre with over 600 hospital beds, 28 operating rooms, 33 intensive care beds and 15 intermediate care beds;
- A new outpatient centre that will deliver services that do not require an overnight stay in the hospital, bringing clinics together in one location, and be home to the QEII Eye Care Centre; and
- A new innovation and learning centre that will see three learning and training labs together under one roof to support distance education and strengthen the QEII Health Sciences Centre’s research and teaching mandate.
The QEII New Generation project also includes the development of a new community outpatient centre in Bayers Lake. It will offer a more convenient location for the thousands of Nova Scotians who have to travel to Halifax for certain care or services. Most of these services will also remain at the Halifax Infirmary site for people who live in Halifax and will continue to use the Infirmary as a community hospital.
“The QEII Health Sciences Centre is a resource for all Nova Scotians – and indeed Atlantic Canadians,” said NSHA president and CEO Janet Knox. “In addition to providing excellent care, the QEII is a leading academic and research institution supporting the development of future health professionals and shaping the future of health-care delivery through world-class research and innovation. This plan will ensure we’re better positioned to do all of that and more today and for generations to come.”
Funding for construction to expand the Halifax Infirmary site and develop the community outpatient centre in Bayers Lake will be through a public-private-partnership (P3) using the design-build-finance-maintain model. A request for qualifications will be issued this fall for a partner to do the design build, finance and maintenance of the project over a 30-year period.
Other components of the QEII New Generation project, like the expansion and renovations to the Dartmouth General Hospital, are well underway. Renovations of an unused operating room and existing operating room at the Hants Community Hospital in Windsor were completed in February 2018.
The redevelopment of the QEII Health Sciences Centre will support the eventual closure of the Centennial, Victoria, and Dickson buildings.
