The following statement was given today in the House of Assembly by the Honourable John G. Abbott, Minister of Transportation and Infrastructure:

I rise today to highlight the completion of construction of the new Western Memorial Regional Hospital, which is the largest building project undertaken by the Provincial Government in 40 years.

Last week, the state-of-the art facility was officially handed over to NL Health Services by the Corner Brook Health Care Partnership. NL Health Services will now begin the process of moving equipment and staff into the new hospital, with the goal of welcoming patients in spring 2024.

During construction, the percentage of residents on this project from Newfoundland and Labrador was consistently greater than 90 per cent.  We will continue to work closely with our partners to ensure all of our infrastructure projects are providing maximum employment for local workers and companies.

I want to acknowledge the Transportation and Infrastructure project management team for their hard work. On-time and on-budget, the project was completed to the exact day to which government committed when the contract was signed.

The new hospital will offer an expanded cancer care program, including radiation services, in addition to all of the same services presently available at the existing Western Memorial Regional Hospital.

Combined with the connected 145-bed long-term care home that opened in 2020, it now forms a health care campus in Corner Brook.

This represents a major milestone in our continued efforts to improve health care service delivery. We look forward to seeing the same positive outcomes on other major infrastructure projects, like the new adult mental health and addictions hospital.

Thank you, Speaker.