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鈥淭his is about getting the facilities that we need in this province to meet the needs of Nova Scotians, and whatever it costs, it will cost,鈥� said Houston.

He said the government is in the final stages of concluding an agreement with the Plenary PCL Health consortium, the lone bidder for previously planned work on the Halifax Infirmary site, which is the largest component of the overall project.

鈥淲e are ready to put shovels in the ground, and we are going to do that in early 2023,鈥� Houston said. Work on major elements of the redevelopment, such as the Infirmary, is expected to take five years, he said, although he didn鈥檛 provide specific timelines.

Under the reworked plan, Plenary is to build a new patient facility at the Infirmary site along with four additional operating rooms, an emergency department and a cancer centre, with some of the work expected to begin this spring.

The work is a change from the original plan, which didn鈥檛 include a new emergency room at the Infirmary. The revamped hospital site is to eventually allow the transfer of services from the aging Victoria General Hospital located nearby.

Karen Oldfield, CEO of the province鈥檚 health authority, said she has heard from health-care workers that the redevelopment work is urgently needed.

鈥淲hat they鈥檝e told me 鈥� is that we don鈥檛 have time, we need to go,鈥� Oldfield said. 鈥淭his is really impacting our retention and our recruitment 鈥� facilities are not what they should be.鈥�

Houston said the overall plan is to add another 423 hospital beds in the Halifax area.

He said that will be done through tenders for new projects such as in-patient services at the Cobequid Community Health Centre in suburban Halifax and two new 鈥渢ransition to community鈥� centres in the Halifax area, where patients who don鈥檛 need acute care can recover from medical procedures. A new emergency department is also planned for the Dartmouth General Hospital.

The premier said the expanded scope of the new plan is meant to address the health needs of the province鈥檚 growing population, something the original redevelopment plan did not envision.

John Volcko, vice-president of national corporate development for Plenary PCL Health, said the province鈥檚 plan to break the redevelopment into manageable 鈥渃hunks鈥� makes it more feasible to proceed with its public-private partnership deal, despite concerns with rising interest rates, material costs and labour shortages.

鈥淏reaking it up should make it easier to deliver, by spreading the risk over different buildings and not having to commit to the whole value of the facility all at once,鈥� Volcko said.

He said the consortium would like to begin preliminary work by May, and he didn鈥檛 rule out bidding for work on the other proposed projects.

Both the Opposition Liberals and the NDP welcomed the changes in the project鈥檚 scope but questioned the lack of detail from the premier.

鈥淵ou wouldn鈥檛 build a house without knowing the cost,鈥� Liberal health critic Brendan Maguire said. 鈥淭hey won鈥檛 tell us the cost, they won鈥檛 tell us the exact timelines. I think that鈥檚 very troublesome for Nova Scotians.鈥�

NDP Leader Claudia Chender said the public needs transparency when it comes to large public developments.

鈥淧eople want to know what the impact will be on the provincial budget and that the money is being spent well,鈥� said Chender. 鈥淓veryone agrees that this project needs to move forward, but everyone deserves the transparency of understanding how.鈥�

Meanwhile, provincial officials confirmed that an agreement had been reached with Plenary PCL Health that would see it paid $7 million for work already done under the government鈥檚 procurement process.

Previous work on the massive project saw EllisDon awarded a $260-million contract to build an outpatient centre in Bayers Lake on the outskirts of Halifax in August 2020. The province has previously said the project is on budget and on time, with an opening expected in early 2024.

This report by 好色tvwas first published Dec. 15, 2022.