A third-party audit is set to be released late spring regarding the constant issues that have arisen around the new Saskatchewan Hospital North Battleford (SHNB).
Not only does the roof need to be replaced, communications from last March show after the spring thaw the gym in the new SHNB was flooded and unavailable, and several occupied units experienced leaking issues.
“The government’s argument up to this point has been that if there are building construction issues with Sask. Hospital North Battleford, which there have been quite a few, that the public shouldn’t pay concern to that because the private partner would have to foot the bill,” said NDP health critic Vicki Mowat.
The hospital was a $407 million public private partnership project that broke ground in late 2015 and opened in March 2019. The hospital was initially supposed to open in June 2018 but ran into delays due to sub contractor delivery issues.
“When we talk about public private partnerships there are a lot of concerns about costs being driven up, a lack of transparency around what the contract looks like and how much we are actually paying in terms of our debt payments as well,” added Mowat.
During question period at the Legislature on Wednesday, Mowat added these issues are not normal. She said the roof had more than 20 leaks and acoustic material was falling from the ceiling.
“We already have $3 billion worth of repairs to do on our existing health infrastructure, and apparently this government thinks Saskatchewan people should accept crumbling infrastructure in our brand-new hospitals as well.”
Ken Cheveldayoff, Minister of Central Services, said in January they awarded a third-party audit which is taking place right now. He added the report will be offered in late spring.
“There have been some issues, as is normal with many facilities that are built. But most importantly, it was built in a way that the taxpayers aren’t responsible for any of those additional dollars,” said Cheveldayoff.
“This is a facility that saved taxpayers $15 million in construction alone, and $90 million over the 30-year period that it will operate,” he added during question period at the Legislature.
