WAHA awards $1.8B contract for Moosonee health-care campus and Moose Factory ambulatory centre

The Weeneebayko Area Health Authority has awarded Pomerleau Healthcare Partners a $1.8 billion fixed-price contract to finalize the design and to build and finance a new health-care campus in Moosonee and an ambulatory care centre in Moose Factory. WAHA announced the contract award Feb. 19, and said it is partnering with Infrastructure Ontario on the project.

The project includes major new facilities in two western James Bay communities served by WAHA, which operates hospitals in Moose Factory, Fort Albany and Attawapiskat, and a health centre in Moosonee.

WAHA said Pomerleau has begun site work on the property, with full construction planned to begin this fall. Patient occupancy is planned for 2030.

The Moosonee health-care campus is expected to be about 419,311 square feet. According to WAHA, plans include a 36-bed acute-care hospital with 100% private rooms, a 32-bed long-term Elder Lodge, staff residences, a patient and family hostel, and an ambulatory care clinic.

The clinic site selection has not been finalized, WAHA said.

In a statement, WAHA President and CEO Lynne Innes said the additional beds and private rooms are meant to allow the authority to provide care “as close to home as possible.”

WAHA said bidders were assessed based on required construction experience and financial capacity, and that a third-party fairness advisor oversaw the procurement process.

In separate statements included in the release, Ontario Deputy Premier and Health Minister Sylvia Jones and Ontario Infrastructure Minister Kinga Surma also described the contract award as a milestone for the redevelopment. Infrastructure Ontario President and CEO Michael Lindsay said the contract marks the close of the project’s development phase.

WAHA said it provides acute and ambulatory health-care services along Ontario’s western James Bay and Hudson Bay coasts, and runs regional outpatient programs and paramedicine services in communities including Kashechewan and Peawanuck. WAHA said it is affiliated with Queen’s University.