Halifax Hospital to Get Elevator Replacement, Upgrades

Officials at Nova Scotia Health have started the multimillion-dollar process to replace outdated and out-of-order elevators at the beleaguered Victoria General Hospital in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, CBC Lite reports. The hospital’s elevators have become “unreliable and not serviceable,” according to officials. In November, the health authority awarded an untendered contract to Maxim Construction for alterations at the Victoria building to accommodate the replacement of two of the elevators and upgrade the other two. The overall project, which also includes electrical work and the fabrication of the elevators themselves, is estimated to cost CAD$2.8 million (US$ 1.8 million) and take up to 20 months. Two elevators at the hospital’s Bethune building have also stopped working, and replacement parts are being sought while services are being relocated. This project is on the same timeline as the Victoria building but “separate and unconnected.” Provincial governments dating back to at least 2009 have tried to replace the hospital, which is well beyond its “best-before” date and plagued with problems, according to the source. But delays led to it being updated instead.