Infrastructure Ontario and Bluewater Health announced that the hospital, EllisDon Corporation and its partners have achieved financial close, which signals that all contractual steps have been completed for the expansion and redevelopment of the Norman Site.

With the addition of 325,000 square feet of new space, Bluewater Health will become a larger, more modern facility housing an expanded emergency department and a consolidated maternal infant child program which will, for the first time, offer labour, birthing and paediatric services on one floor. The project will also provide the space for additional acute care beds.

The building team, led by EllisDon, also includes financing arranged by Pacific & Western Bank of Canada.

The deal commits EllisDon to build and finance the hospital's redevelopment project for $214,080,286 million, which will be paid only when construction is completed.  Approximately 100 to 150 workers will be on the site daily, and as a result of the project, hundreds of thousands of dollars will be spent in the surrounding communities on labour and purchasing construction and other related supplies.

A Value for Money (VFM) report on the project will be posted on Infrastructure Ontario's website, along with the project agreement, within weeks. This third-party VFM assessment identifies the benefits or value derived on this project as compared to a traditional procurement approach. The VFM report will provide a summary of estimated total project costs including the fixed cost of the contract with EllisDon, equipment and other ancillary costs.

Construction is expected to be completed in 2011.

This 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.  

Visit www.infrastructureontario.ca for more information. 

Contacts: 

Mary Lowe        
Infrastructure Ontario    
416-325-4856 

Toni Adey
Bluewater Health
519-464-4452  

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