Pomerleau team awarded $1.8B WAHA project contract

Key Takeaways:

• The WAHA Redevelopment Project is being delivered using a public-private partnership (P3) approach, allowing collaborative development between Pomerleau Health Partners and government entities to design, build, and finance the project.
• The project will replace the outdated Weeneebayko General Hospital with a new 36-bed hospital, elder care lodge, visitor hostel, and staff residences in Moosonee, along with an ambulatory care centre on Moose Factory Island, with a total cost of $1.8 billion.
• The redevelopment aims to enhance medical services for predominantly Cree communities along the James Bay and Hudson Bay coasts, providing culturally responsive care for around 12,000 people in the region, with construction expected to be completed by 2030.

The Whole Story:

Infrastructure Ontario (IO) and the Weeneebayko Area Health Authority (WAHA), in partnership with the Ontario government, have awarded a fixed-price contract of $1.8 billion to Pomerleau Health Partners to design, build and finance the WAHA Redevelopment Project.

The Pomerleau Health Partners team includes:

• Applicant leads: Pomerleau Inc.
• Design team: Kasian Architects Ontario Inc. and Bertrand Wheeler Architecture Inc.
• Construction team: Pomerleau Inc.
• Financial advisor: PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP

The WAHA Redevelopment Project is being delivered using a progressive public-private partnership (P3) approach, which fosters collaborative development of project requirements, design, pricing and risk management.

IO and WAHA signed a Development Phase Agreement with Pomerleau Inc. in January 2023 following a competitive request for proposals process that began in January 2022. Throughout the Development Phase, Pomerleau Inc. worked collaboratively with IO and WAHA, as well as with the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Long-Term Care, and Indigenous Services Canada, to define and refine project requirements to advance the design and confirm fixed pricing.

Now that the Development Phase is complete and the P3 contract has been awarded, Pomerleau Health Partners is on site to redevelop the hospital, and construction is expected to be complete in 2030.

The WAHA Redevelopment Project is a major healthcare infrastructure initiative in northern Ontario, aimed at improving medical services for the predominantly Cree communities along the James Bay and Hudson Bay coasts.

The project involves the construction of a new 36-bed regional hospital, a 32-bed elder care lodge, a visitor hostel, and staff residences in Moosonee, as well as an ambulatory care centre on Moose Factory Island. With a total cost of $1.8 billion, the project is being funded jointly by the federal and provincial governments, with Canada committing $1.2 billion.

The new facilities will replace the outdated Weeneebayko General Hospital, originally built in 1950, and are expected to be completed by 2030, serving approximately 12,000 people in the region with improved, culturally responsive healthcare services closer to home.