HALIFAX- The Nova Scotia government says it has finalized an agreement to begin constructing a new 14-storey tower at a Halifax hospital site, with a total estimated cost of $7.4 billion.
The cost estimate under the agreement with
, includes $4.5 billion to construct the tower at the Halifax Infirmary and $2.9 billion over 30 years to operate and maintain the new building.
Officials say construction will begin in May with the building ready to receive its first patients in the fall of 2031.
Health Minister Michelle Thompson says the project is the largest piece of health-care infrastructure ever undertaken in Atlantic Canada.
Once completed, the new tower will add 216 beds, 16 operating rooms, a 48-bed intensive care unit and an emergency department that is nearly twice the size of the hospital's current facility.
Paul Knowles, an executive with PCL Construction, says as many as 900 workers are expected to be employed at the site during the peak of construction.