New hospital will serve Burns Lake by 2015

The village of Burns Lake will soon be home to a new hospital.

The province announced Thursday plans for construction of a $55 million facility to replace Lakes District Hospital.

The new hospital, to be completed by 2015, will have an anticipated capacity of 16 patients and will provide services for acute care, emergency, diagnostic imaging, a medical laboratory and pharmacy. There will also be a procedure room large enough to be used as an operating room for emergency surgery.

"It doesn't happen very often, so it's tremendously good news for Burns Lake and Northern Health," said Northern Health chief operating officer Michael McMillan.

"It's long overdue. A large number of people have been working very hard for more than 10 years to move this project forward and it means a sense of hope. I think it will be tremendously positive for recruitment and retention of staff. It will bring stability to services."

The Babine Lake Sawmill explosion and fire on Jan. 20 killed two workers and injured 19, which overwhelmed health staff and highlighted the need for improved services in Burns Lake, a three-hour drive west of Prince George.

"The capacity to provide service is more related to the staff that we have and the staff [in Burns Lake] do an unbelievable job," said McMillan. "We only have to look to the mill explosion and the work the staff did and the world-class care they provided to the 19 injured workers from that tragedy.

"Instead of the facility being a barrier, they'll actually have the space and technology and integration of physician services with other team members to actually provide integrated primary care."

Tenders will go out over the next few months, with construction expected to start in 2013.

The hospital will be rated as a Level 5 trauma centre, the lowest classification on the provincial trauma scale, and it will serve a population of about 5,000, drawing from Burns Lake, Francois Lake, Topley, Granisle, Endako, Grassy Plains and several First Nations villages in the area.

"I am elated to hear that a new hospital for Burns Lake has been approved - this hospital will increase our level of health-care services, create local jobs, and bring comfort to families and businesses in the Lakes District," said Burns Lake mayor Luke Strimbold.

"Community groups, individuals, the regional hospital district and former councils have been working with Northern Health and the provincial government towards a hospital replacement for many years."

The project is expected to create hundreds of construction jobs in area that lost close to 500 permanent jobs three months ago when the mill was destroyed. Nechako Lakes MLA John Rustad said the need for employment will help fast-track site preparation of the new hospital starting this fall.

"New capital projects usually come in the third year of your budget cycle and that's how projects get approved, but because of the situation in Burns Lake we were able to accelerate some of those dollars to be able to start the project a little earlier than anticipated," said Rustad.

"I think people were very surprised we're going to start some work this year with it, which is great news for a community that really is in need of some good news."