The province will issue two tenders this week for preliminary work on a $6-million expansion to the Community Hospital in O’Leary. In February of this year, the province committed to a 15-bed expansion to the Margaret Stewart Ellis Home in Community Hospital O’Leary, the redesign of urgent care and the addition of the Beechwood Community Health Centre. This initial construction will see the Beechwood Community Health Centre relocated to Community Hospital in O’Leary as well as the redesign of the urgent care centre, with the balance of the project proceeding in 2010.

“This expansion follows recommendations made in our Healthy Aging Strategy, and it shores up our efforts to improve health care delivery in West Prince,” says Premier Robert Ghiz. “By taking this first step and relocating the Beechwood Community Health Centre to the Community Hospital, we will be able to provide better service to residents and improve the level of care.”

“I am pleased with the progress we have made and continue to make on health care commitments in West Prince,” says Health Minister, Doug Currie. “The relocation of the Beechwood Community Health Centre to Community Hospital will provide space for the new West Prince Diabetes Program and Addictions and Mental Health Services. This addition means that Community Hospital will now offer a full range of health care services to residents in West Prince.”

Minister Currie says O’Leary-Inverness MLA Robert Henderson was instrumental in making this project a reality. He says Henderson worked hard to promote the potential benefits of an expansion at Community Hospital.

The capital renovation for the Community Hospital O’Leary is part of the provincial Government’s $510 million, 5-year stimulus funding initiative announced last December. Not only is the renovation good news for the Community Hospital O’Leary but it is also good news for Government’s efforts to train more health professionals. Holland College and the Government of Prince Edward Island recently announced that a new Licensed Practical Nursing (LPN) program would be offered this fall with clinical placements for students taking place at the O’Leary Hospital.

Tenders issued this week will cover site work, foundation construction and steel work for the 14-thousand square foot addition. An additional tender will be issued in the fall for the remainder of the Beechwood Clinic/Urgent Care portion of the project, which is expected to be completed in late spring 2010.

-30-