VJH Site Update

First of all, our apologies. We’ve been somewhat delinquent in letting you know what’s going on at the construction site we call Vernon Jubilee Hospital.

 

But rest assured: the men and women doing the real work (i.e. building the new patient care tower) have been beetling away all spring and have made some real progress on the tower. In fact it’s actually starting to look like a real hospital in places. And good thing too. We start moving in this time next year. (Check out all the new photos here.)

 

Let’s start with the exterior of the building. If you’ve driven down Hospital Hill lately, you’ll notice the tower has been “unwrapped” and the scaffolding removed. The south side of the tower now looks much like it will on opening day (with a few finishing touches, of course).

 

The new emergency department patient dropoff is taking shape, as is the short-term parking lot in front of the main entrance to the patient care tower. The ambulance bays in the rear of the tower will be paved next week. You really should check out those photos to see how much more space the ambulances will have to do their important work.

 

The ground floor (emergency department) is almost completely painted and is being floored. Millwork (e.g. cabinetry and fixed furniture) is starting to be installed. The second and third floors (ambulatory care and surgical suites) are in various stages of completion, with drywalling, painting and flooring going in all over the place.

 

The fourth and fifth floors (mat/child, intensive care and critical care) are likewise being drywalled and readied for finishing. Major mechanical equipment such as air conditioners and boilers are arriving and being installed, as are the elevator cabs, which need to be built inside the elevator shafts due to their large size.

 

Important work will begin in the coming weeks to link the new tower with the old hospital. There will be two ground floor walkways, as well as bridges linking the two buildings at the second and third floors.