New Hospital for Fort St. James

Oct 9, 2018 | 1:03 PM

FORT ST. JAMES — It’s the news people in the Fort St. James area have been waiting for.

Today the provincial government announced the Stuart Lake Hospital replacement project has been given the green light, with government approval of the concept plan.

Discussions regarding the replacement have been ongoing for the past decade. In 2015, Northern Health submitted a concept plan to the Ministry of Health. Northern Health then submitted a revised concept plan to the government last summer, which was approved this month. The project now moves to the business plan phase.

The current hospital opened in 1972 and according to the Province, is outdated in terms of space, functionality and technology. The hospital has 12 beds and offers emergency, acute and complex care, residential care, lab and X-ray services and mental health and addictions counselling.