New south Calgary hospital beds cut as costs rise

The cost of building a new hospital in south Calgary has spiked again, forcing health officials to scale back the total number of beds, and scrap specialized areas for mental health and women's services.

Construction costs have pushed the facility's price tag to $1.7 billion, but the hospital only has $1.4 billion of funding, so it's been forced to make changes to stay within budget.

As a result, the first phase of the hospital, near Deerfoot Trail and 196th Avenue S.E., will go from 325 beds to 293 when it opens in 2011, said Don Stewart, a spokesman for the Calgary Health Region.

There will no longer be 52 beds dedicated to obstetrics and 38 committed to mental health; instead, those departments will have to find space among the 216 in-patient beds.

Specialized areas for women's and mental health services have also been pulled for the first phase of construction.

"We absolutely need the beds in the Calgary Health Region. The capacity is critical. So if people aren't receiving service, and they're in longer lineups, longer wait lists, and it just exacerbates the problem for people and it exacerbates the problem for families," said Judy Martin, executive director of the Calgary branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association.

The original estimate of $550 million in 2005 already soared last year to $1.25 billion because of escalating construction expenses and design changes.

The entire hospital campus is supposed to be finished in 2017, and is expected to accommodate 800,000 visits a year.