Short-listed Companies Invited To Bid 

TORONTO - The Sault Area Hospital project has reached another key milestone with the release of a request for proposals (RFP) to build, finance and maintain a new facility that will be 20 per cent larger than the two existing hospitals combined and will have an Emergency Department twice its current size. 

“Today's call for construction bidders brings the communities of Sault Ste. Marie and the Algoma district one step closer to having a larger facility with a wider range of health care services under one roof,” said Minister of Public Infrastructure Renewal David Caplan. “This project is one of many in the McGuinty government's $30-billion plus infrastructure investment plan to modernize public infrastructure while ensuring value for taxpayer dollars.”

Once complete, the 289-bed public hospital will house a radiation treatment satellite, providing closer-to-home access to this life-saving care for the more than 100,000 residents of Sault Ste. Marie and the Algoma region.

“This project is an essential part of the McGuinty government's plan to modernize hospitals, reduce wait times and upgrade medical equipment in the local community and across the province,” commented Minister of Health and Long-Term Care George Smitherman.  “This project will see a benefit of over $20 million due to our government's new capital cost share policy.”

“The Sault Area Hospital project is great news for our city,” said Sault Ste. Marie MPP David Orazietti.  “Today's announcement demonstrates our government's commitment to providing the resources and infrastructure that will address the health care needs of this growing community."

The following three consortia were short-listed through a request for qualifications (RFQ) issued in April 2006. These companies have the construction, operational and financial capacity required to undertake a project of this size and complexity. Once submissions to the RFP are received and reviewed, a winning consortium will be selected. Construction is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2007:

  • Hospital Infrastructure Partners Inc. (HIP)
    • Carillion
    • EllisDon
    • Labourers' Pension Fund of Central and Eastern Canada
    • CIT Financial (Financial Advisor) 
  • Plenary Health (Plenary)
    • Plenary Group
    • PCL
    • Johnson Controls
    • Aramark
    • Deutsche Bank 
  • SNC-Lavalin (SNC)
    • SNC-Lavalin Engineers and Constructors
    • Bondfield Construction
    • SNC-Lavalin Profac
    • SNC-Lavalin Investment
    • SNC-Lavalin Capital 

“Our patients and their families deserve a bigger, more modern hospital with the programs, equipment and expertise needed for them to receive life-saving health care right here in this community,” said Ron Gagnon, interim President and CEO of the Sault Area Hospital. “With the support of the government, we've made an important step in this direction.”

The Sault Area Hospital will manage this project with Infrastructure Ontario, an arm's length Crown corporation dedicated to the renewal of the province's hospitals, courthouses, and other essential public assets. Using an Alternative Financing and Procurement (AFP) model that ensures appropriate public control and ownership, Infrastructure Ontario uses private financing for large-scale and complex projects to strategically rebuild vital infrastructure, on time and on budget.

All infrastructure projects will be guided by the principles in the government's Building a Better Tomorrow framework, ensuring public ownership of core public assets such as hospitals, schools and water and wastewater infrastructure. 

Visit www.infrastructureontario.ca  for more information.

Contacts:

Amy Tang  
Minister's Office  
Public Infrastructure and Renewal 
416-325-8735

Mandy Downes
Infrastructure Ontario
416-327-5325

Brady Irwin
Sault Area Hospital
(705) 759-3837

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