Construction will soon begin on a long-awaited learning and development centre at the University Hospital of Northern B.C. after dignitaries assembled Friday for a sod turning.
Slated to be in operation by early 2015, the $9.86-million facility will cover 1,365-square-metres off the main entrance to the hospital and will be used primarily by students in the Northern Medical Program but also by other healthcare professionals.
It will also represent a marked improvement over the portable trailer that has been the NMP's classroom at the hospital since the program began 10 years ago.
Although part of the plan since the program's beginning, the ball really got rolling on constructing a full-fledged facility in April 2011 when Dr. Bert Kelly showed a video clip comparing the 200-seat facility at Kelowna's hospital to the portable at UNHBC.
It was at that point, acknowledged Prince George-Valemount MLA Shirley Bond, that she and then-Prince George-Mackenzie MLA Pat Bell got to work on delivering the centre to Prince George.
"We worked very hard with a number of partners to ensure that we have the opportunity to bring a fantastic addition to this campus of care that we have here at the University Hospital of Northern B.C.," Bond said.
The facility will hold a library, seminar rooms with a combined capacity of up to 140 people, a clinical simulation centre, video conferencing suites, and group-study areas.
Western Industrial Contractors was awarded the contract to build the facility earlier this month. It will create 65 jobs during the project's construction.
The centre will confirm UNHBC as a "major teaching hospital," Northern Health chair Charles Jago said.
"It will be very prominent building in a very prominent location and it will attest to the fact that we're committed to the future and to providing the best medical service we can," Jago added.
NMP student Bobbi Jean Batchelor said the centre will be a "huge asset to the university and the future of the north" and will "attract more students and residents."
"It will make Prince George a first choice for students looking for the best education and a first choice for students looking to make a difference," Batchelor said.
