Cost climbing for new prison health centre in New Brunswick
3 companies selected to submit proposals to design and build centre on Dorchester Penitentiary grounds
A new 155-bed health-care facility for prison inmates in southeastern New Brunswick is expected to cost millions more than previously expected.
The federal government has been planning a facility to replace the 53-bed Shepody Healing Centre at Dorchester Penitentiary.
The new centre was expected to cost $400 million in 2021. During a news conference Thursday at the prison, Canada's new finance minister said the cost has climbed.
Dominic LeBlanc described it as the largest federal spending project in the province since the Confederation Bridge, which cost about $1 billion.
"The scale of this project is very much in that range," LeBlanc said of the cost comparison.
He declined to share the exact estimate, saying that figure could affect the bid process.
LeBlanc said three companies have been selected to submit proposals early next year to design and build it: Bird Design-Build Construction Inc., EllisDon Corp. and Pomerleau Inc.
The minister said the companies will submit proposals with a price, and the contract will require it to be built for that price.
LeBlanc announced the plan to replace Shepody in 2019, but on Thursday he said there have been various delays, including an evaluation of whether it should be in another province or in a city.
"This project has taken longer than I would have liked," LeBlanc said. "It's taken longer than the Correctional Service of Canada would have liked, and it's taken longer than a lot of the people who are working here every day would have liked."
The new centre will be constructed on the prison grounds in an area that was once a working farm. It will provide care, including mental health care, to both men and women.
There was no timeline offered for when construction is expected to be complete.
Dr. Louis Thériault, a consulting psychiatrist who does work at the penitentiary, spoke to reporters during a tour of the Shepody Healing Centre.
"We have numerous, numerous challenges," he said of the Shepody, which is spread over several floors.
One of the two common rooms shown to reporters required climbing a set of stairs to get to cells, which officials noted makes it challenging for inmates with mobility concerns. An elevator from the upper level common room down to a five-bed medical suite is too small to hold a gurney.
"We have here geriatric patients who have mobility issues. It's not as safe as we would like," Thériault said.
And the common rooms are small, he said, adding that an inmate who gets upset is harder to separate from others.
"When there is a crisis, it spreads," Thériault said.
The new facility is expected to be one level, with larger rooms and windows that don't require bars.
It will require more staff, including psychiatrists, family doctors, and nurses. He said that recruitment will take place over years, but he's optimistic there will be interest in coming to work a the centre.
"It'll become a teaching centre as well. So we probably will need to triple the staff available that we currently have," he said.
Thériault called the facility 25 years overdue.
"I think this is a significant step today because we've been at it for many, many years. And, and I think there's a lot of hope for staff, patients and a better outcome for those patients in the community."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
