this Richmond Hospital Reconstruction has been added to the list of BC projects that will cost more than originally estimated.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs healthy It was revealed on Tuesday that the total cost of the reconstruction is expected to be $1.96 billion.
That's $1.1 billion more than the hospital's original 2020 business plan projected.
The province cited rising construction costs as the main reason for the price hike.
“Over the last two years, prices have increased significantly for all projects, all public and private sector projects, and hospitals are no exception,” said Health Minister Adrian Dix.
“The good news is that this is long-overdue money for hospitals — it has gone unspent for decades.”
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The provincial government will cover the majority of the cost of the project, with Vancouver Coastal Health contributing $30 million and the Richmond Hospital Foundation contributing another $40 million.
“While we have great respect for them, they have no experience overseeing large, complex projects,” said Kevin Falcon, leader of the opposition BC United Party.
“We've seen the construction of the Cowichan Hospital go from $800 million to over $1.4 billion and it's still going up. We've seen them commit to building a second Surrey hospital for seven years and it's now over $1.1 billion over budget and several years behind schedule.”
The redevelopment includes a new acute care building, a larger emergency department, more operating rooms and an additional 113 beds.
Demolition work for the first phase of the project is scheduled to begin this summer, with reconstruction expected to be fully completed by 2031.
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