Whitehorse General Hospital breaks ground on $72M renovation

It's more challenging than ever to find a parking spot at the Whitehorse General Hospital, as much of the paved lot has been ripped up, confining vehicles to a makeshift parking area.

The parking changes are part of site preparation for a major construction project at the hospitalwhich involves realigning the road into the hospital.

Jason Bilsky, CEO of the Yukon Hospital Corporation, acknowledges the inconvenience.

"We're doing our best to make sure there is ample parking," he said, conceding that"it's difficult right now.

"It is a construction site and we apologize for that any concerns with dust, noise or access and our main concern is that people do haveaccess to the facility."

The $72 million expansion includes a state of the art emergency room, which isexpected to be finished in 2017.

When construction is completed, said Bilsky, there will be more parkingwith better access to the hospital than there was before. Thecurrent ambulance station will be demolished and replaced with a new building, and a new parking lot will be created in its place.

Whitehorse General Hospital was built in 1959. A release from the Yukon Hospital Corporations says this expansion is the first large-scale enhancement to the facility in nearly 20 years.

NWT names builders for Yellowknife hospital upgrade

Friday was also a banner day for the N.W.T.'s upcoming hospital renovation, asthe Government of the Northwest Territoriesannounced the companies that will renovate and build additions to Yellowknife's Stanton Territorial Hospital.

Clark Builders, a familiar name in Northern building projects,is among the companies that will take part inthe project.

The new hospital will include single-patient rooms and a larger emergency department.

The government hopes construction will begin this fall.