MONTREAL - The upcoming MUHC superhospital is on schedule and on budget one year into a five-year construction plan, according to builders.
But there are many years intensive construction ahead before the hospital launches in early 2015.
The site at the Glen Yards now has nine construction cranes on site and there will eventually be 14 doing the work.
There have been about 450 construction workers on the site - currently shut down for the construction holidays which last until August 7 - but that total will eventually rise to 1,800.
Brass gave CTV Montreal a tour of the site, which will have many amenities not available in the venerable old hospitals it will replace, such as the Royal Victoria.
They include single-patient rooms with private bathrooms and air conditioning. The long trips to get an X-ray are gone, too, and better elevator service is also promised, which makes it unlikely that you'll be on the elevator with someone on a stretcher.
"You'll never have to suffer that type of indignity as a patient and we get all the infection control and performance in terms of a healing environment," said Robert Hamilton, Senior Director, Glen Campus Development.
"We'll have clustering of services so that the patient doesn't move, the services come to the patient," said Hamilton. "We'll have very efficient proximity between imaging, emergency and clinics."
The emergency room is being built to expand and contract according to need.
Access will also be easy through bus, metro or train and drivers will have 2,800 parking spots.
The first building to open will most likely be the research institute, which was funded by the Canadian Foundation for Innovation. It will allow research to sit side-by-side with health care.
"It will really be a spectacular opportunity to have the benefit of researchers and clinicians in one campus," said Hamilton.
And the builder says that the project is progressing as projected, thus far at least.
"We are on time and on budget," said Charles Chebl of SNC-Lavalin.
