Saskatchewan Hospital North Battleford needs new roof 74 days in: province

The newly built Saskatchewan Hospital North Battleford needs a new roof.

The hospital, which only opened in March, had modular roofing panels fail due to spring melt.

The panels shrunk, creating gaps in the roof. Access Prairies Partnership, the organization which built and maintains the hospital, will replace the entire roof.

Health Minister Jim Reiter.said no public funds will be used to cover the costs of the repair.

The hospital was the government's biggest public-private partnership, or P3 model.

Reiter said that system keeps the province protected from this type of failure.

"There's no financial risk to the government. I think using the model that we did clearly paid off," he said.

There are more than 140 residents who currently live at the hospital.

Reiter said he hopes none of the residents will need to be moved out of the building during the renovations.

"We're expecting it will be done incrementally. So while there may be some movement of residents inside the facility, we're hopeful that nobody will have to be moved outside of the facility," Reiter said.

There is no word on when the work will start or how long it will last.