Ontario Construction News staff writer
Bird Construction has been awarded a contract for construction of the Covenant Wellness Community Health Centre in Edmonton, Alberta. The project is valued at approximately $95 million.
Demolition will be completed by Sept. 30 and construction will begin this fall and last until Dec. 2025.
“We are proud to be selected by Covenant Health to support the development of their innovative wellness community,” said Teri McKibbon, president and CEO at Bird.
“This project adds to our long history as a strong institutional builder and is aligned with Bird’s belief in providing sustainable and innovative solutions for our clients, partners, and the communities in which we live and work.”
The new Community Health Centre is the first phase of Covenant Health’s planned Wellness Community in southeast Edmonton. Situated on an 11-acre site, the centre will be a 200,000 sq. ft, three-storey building with a two-level underground parkade. It will provide non-urgent, ambulatory medical clinics, laboratory services, diagnostic imaging, and doctors’ offices, as well as food service outlets.
“Covenant is pleased to move to the next phase of this innovative project,” said Covenant Health CEO Patrick Dumelie. “We look forward to working collaboratively with Bird Construction to bring an integrated approach to aging in place, with its mix of housing and care development and services.”
The wellness community will include:
- A community health centre
- Multigenerational housing
- Integrated seniors’ continuing care centre
- Surgical services or expansion space (to be determined as needs are identified)
- Commercial buildings (to be determined as needs are identified)
Covenant purchased Southeast Campus in 2017 with a bold vision to address healthcare gaps through community-based services. At its heart, the vision has not changed; however, the pandemic was an opportunity to fine tune the vision to align with evolving community needs and provincial priorities.
“Revolutionary seniors’ care is a key focus for the Covenant wellness community,” said Dumelie. “Our integrated seniors’ care centre will be purpose-built to provide innovative, compassionate care that meets seniors’ evolving needs and allows them to age in place. We will use cutting-edge technologies and best practices in seniors care to ensure our residents receive the world-class care they deserve.”