Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre (RDRHC) Redevelopment

Central Zone, Capital Projects

Highlights:

  • AHS remains committed to working to improve services and enhance healthcare delivery in Red Deer. We are working closely with our Government partners – Alberta Health and Alberta Infrastructure – on the redevelopment of Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre (RDRHC).
    • The redevelopment of RDRHC is led by Government, with AHS input into the care and service delivery models.
  • The expansion will include a new patient tower, and extensive renovations to the existing building. This work will result in:
    • 200 new in-patient beds added, increasing hospital capacity from 370 beds to 570 beds.
    • 6 new operating rooms (ORs) will be added.
    • 2 cardiac catheterization labs
    • Enhancements to the Medical Device Reprocessing Department
    • New central power plant
  • Renovations to the existing building will be completed in a phased manner in order to maintain clinical operations.
  • This particular build is unique in that it is not a completely new build and hospital operations will continue throughout the project. We are taking steps to ensure that capacity issues are addressed and to avoid as much disruption to current services as possible.
  • A new Ambulatory building will also be constructed south of the surface parkade to provide ambulatory care services and clinical support services that don’t requiring patients being admitted to the hospital.
    • Services will include addiction and mental health, dialysis space, ambulatory services and minor procedure spaces.
    • More than 200 underground parking stalls will be built to support the Ambulatory Building.

Project Milestones

  • The Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre Redevelopment Project encompasses two distinct projects within its scope:
    • Construction of a new patient tower and redevelopment of the existing hospital
    • Construction of a new, stand-alone ambulatory building
  • The Detailed Design Development phase of the project is now underway for the new patient tower and site redevelopment.
    • Schematic Design for the new patient tower was completed in February, 2024.
  • Functional programming - including physical space, equipment and staffing needs – to support expansion was completed spring 2023.
  • Funding for the redevelopment project was announced by Government in February, 2022 (Red Deer Hospital Announcement). The total cost is estimated at $1.8 billion - the largest hospital redevelopment project in Alberta’s history.
  • The business case was completed in late 2021.

Behind the Scenes

  • AHS is working in many areas to enhance current services, reduce wait times and address capacity pressures at the site while redevelopment work continues.
  • This includes maximizing existing spaces to increase ICU capacity, increasing dialysis hours, creating a dedicated Internal Medicine Specialty inpatient unit, increasing Respiratory clinics, establishing a specialized team in the Emergency Department to support patients experiencing mental health crises, and adding Infectious Disease clinics.
  • AHS is also continuing work to increase surgical capacity by growing programs in rural sites like Olds, Innisfail, Stettler, Ponoka and Rocky Mountain House to help create more OR time in Red Deer for specialized procedures.
  • Continued recruitment and retention efforts across departments to support care teams and patients alike also continue. This includes ongoing collaboration with post-secondary partners on new training opportunities for students.