Corner Brook's new hospital to open 17 years after first promised

After 17 years of planning, Corner Brook's new hospital is set to open next spring — but some people are concerned about what will actually be offered inside the new acute-care building.

Construction started in August 2019 on the $723-million build. The seven-storey structure is in its final stages of construction, with crews painting lines on the parking lot as of this week.

The hospital, with the attached 145-bed long-term care building, can be seen from vantage points all over the hilly city on Newfoundland's west coast.

"I'm excited to get people up into the building, to get staff in. We are at a really exciting stage and really looking forward to that first-patient day," said Jason Rowsell, N.L. Health Services' senior director of new facilities. 

The facility totals over 55,000 square metres. Contractors Plenary Group, PCL Constructors Canada, Marco Services and Johnson Controls Canada have until November to complete the building.

That's when Rowsell and his team get the keys and start moving into the new space. Rowsell says the transition could take months or even a year to complete, and will include all departments using a combination of old and new equipment while they train and transfer to the new location.

• $750M contract awarded for new Corner Brook hospital
• Here I am by Corner Brook's brand-new hospital. Oh, wait

"In essence we have to take a building and turn it into a hospital — a hospital that's ready to accept patients and provide high patient care on Day 1," he said.

That day, he says, will come next spring.

A new hospital to replace the aging Western Memorial Regional Hospital was first promised in September 2007 by Danny Williams's government.

"It's great to see the building getting built," said Gerald Parsons, co-chair of the hospital action committee.

"2007, and this is '23. That's a long time to wait for a new hospital."

Controversy over PET scanner

For the past 2½ years, Health Services has been purchasing new equipment for the hospital. By August, the health authority will have completed procurement, and installation can begin in December.

One controversial item is the positron emission tomography scanner in the new radiation unit.

Corner Brook has never offered radiation services before. The new radiation therapy care model at the hospital will focus on standardized radiation therapy treatments for patients who may have cancer in the breast, prostate or lung, for example. Radiation therapy services for other tumour groups may be phased in after a few years, according to the Department of Health.

Patients living in western Newfoundland currently have to travel to St. John's for treatment.

Parsons, who advocates for better health care on the west coast, says previous government leadership promised a PET scanner to go in that radiation unit. 

• Advocate who pushed for a new Corner Brook hospital for years is thrilled by progress
• Corner Brook hospital advocate furious over broken PET scan promise

The PET scanner is a multimillion-dollar imaging technology that checks for diseases in the body. There is a PET/CT scanner in St. John's that was installed four years ago and cost $46 million. 
 
The provincial government allocated $2 million in a trust in January 2021 to go toward a PET scanner in Corner Brook, if and when it's deemed necessary by the provincial cancer-care and medical-imaging teams. 

Parsons says past governments promised a PET scanner. He's wary, and left wondering if the new hospital will ever see the technology.

"I'm lost for words. [They] make a decision on things, and it changes after," he said. 

Parsons says there's been no dialogue with the hospital action committee on the status of the trust money or the plan for the high-end scanning equipment.

"We need it," he said. 

"Corner Brook is a seniors' town, and look at the cancers. Every second person has cancer and has to travel to St. John's for radiation, and there is no need of it."

New, better facility 

Rowsell says he and his team have been working for years to plan the hospital's interior and improve care for patients in western Newfoundland.

That means installing natural lighting, betting navigation and signage and enhancements to the mental health section with outdoor space and family areas.

The new hospital will have 164 beds, all in separate rooms, and a larger parking lot with 1,100 spaces. 

"Everything is much more spacious," he said.

"We are really excited about all the changes and what it's going to mean for patients in western Newfoundland and Labrador."

Read more from CBC Newfoundland and Labrador