FERGUS, ONT. - Infrastructure Ontario (IO) and Groves Memorial Community Hospital have issued a request for qualifications (RFQ) for a consortium to design, build and finance a new hospital to replace the existing Groves Memorial Community Hospital in Fergus.

The new Groves Memorial Community Hospital, which is expected to be completed in mid-2019, will be located in Aboyne, Ont., between Elora and Fergus. Highlights of the project include:

  • building on an existing model of care that links traditional hospital-based acute care services with community-based services to achieve an enhanced continuum of care
  • providing a framework to address future flexibility and changes in technology
  • providing facilities that meet infection prevention and control standards and reflect best practices and evidence-based design
  • providing services within a model of care to accommodate projected needs-based demographic changes
The RFQ is the first step in the process to select a team to deliver the project. Submissions will be reviewed to shortlist project teams with the design and construction experience, as well as the qualified personnel and financial capacity to deliver a project of this size and complexity. Shortlisted teams will then be invited to respond to a request for proposals, expected to be released mid-2016.

This project will be built using IO's alternative financing and procurement (AFP) delivery model - a public-private partnership - that transfers risks associated with designing, constructing and financing a building to the private sector.

IO and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care are working with Groves Memorial Community Hospital to build the new replacement hospital, which will remain publicly owned, controlled and accountable.

Quotes:
Dr. Eric Hoskins, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care 
“We are delighted to see that the Groves Memorial Community Hospital project has progressed to the RFQ stage. Soon a team will be selected to build the new hospital, which means we are one step closer to providing the outstanding quality of care that patients in the area deserve.”

Brad Duguid, Minister of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure
“Infrastructure investments, such as the one our government is making in the Groves Memorial Community Hospital, will help strengthen Ontario's economy and create jobs. Once completed, this project will enhance medical care for the Fergus community, and the construction phase will generate economic activity in the surrounding area.”

Howard Dobson, Board Chair, Groves Memorial Community Hospital
“Groves Hospital staff, physicians, volunteers and partners have been hard at work meeting throughout the summer to establish the guidelines and performance requirements for the successful building team. Meeting participants had the opportunity to discuss the hospital's current and future state as well as preferred design options. This request for qualifications will ensure we have identified suitable prequalified bidders who will eventually present proposals to achieve our vision of a successful new hospital, that will meet our patient, staff, physician, volunteer and community needs.”

Bert Clark, President and CEO, Infrastructure Ontario
“The new Groves Memorial Community Hospital is Infrastructure Ontario's 58th healthcare project to be delivered under our AFP model. IO has a 97% track record of completing hospitals and other major infrastructure projects within budget. We look forward to continuing that success by delivering this modern healthcare facility to the community on time and on budget.”

Background:
IO is a Crown agency of the Province of Ontario that works to deliver public benefits through partnerships with the private sector. IO delivers large, complex, public infrastructure projects using a made-in-Ontario modern procurement and project management practice called Alternative Financing and Procurement. IO also partners with the private sector to manage one of the largest real estate portfolios in Canada, provides municipalities and eligible public-sector clients with loans to renew public infrastructure, and leverages its private-sector expertise to advise the provincial public-sector clients on commercial transactions.

Groves Memorial Community Hospital (GMCH) is a highly respected, rural, acute-care facility providing a wide range of services. GMCH serves a local and regional population of over 34,500 and treats more than 68,000 people annually. The hospital currently operates with more than 277 staff, 84 medical staff and 254 volunteers' support.

Visit www.infrastructureontario.ca and www.gmch.ca for more information.

Contacts:

Nancy Kuyumcu 
Infrastructure Ontario 
416-327-5764 


Jerome Quenneville
Groves Memorial Community Hospital
519-827-6701 


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