Shortlist of 3 to design and build Waterford Hospital replacement

There is a shortlist of three businesses that will compete to design, build, finance and maintain the new facility that will replace the Waterford Hospital in St. John's.

The new adult mental health and addictions facility will be constructed as an extension to the Health Sciences Centre.

The proposed number of beds have been upped from 94 to 102, according to a media release issued by the provincial government Thursday afternoon.

The project will also include a parking garage with at least 500 extra parking spaces.

The three groups Atlantic Healthcare Group, Avalon Healthcare Partnership, and NL Healthcare Partnership will submit proposals in early 2020. It will be later that year that the successful bidder will be announced.

All three proponents have at least one local company as part of the team. The team leads of each of the groups are businesses based in Madrid and Toronto.

The new facility is a public-private partnership, or P3. It's a model the government is using for other projects, including the long-awaited hospital in Corner Brookand, more recently, a promised replacement for Her Majesty's Penitentiary.

St. John's Coun.Sheilagh O'Leary has urged the government not to build the Waterford's replacement at the proposed site because it's on a flood plain.

Transportation Minister Steve Crocker has said officials aren't ignoring the water risk. He said a berm will be built to keep water away from the new facility and the entire Health Sciences complex.

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