It’s out with the orange, and in with more neutral gray and white panels as outside design elements for the new Mills Memorial Hospital slowly come together.
The change in colour scheme is following the Northern Health Authority asking for comment on the initial design feature.
Northern Health Authority communications official Sarah Artis said the revision provides for a more neutral look to blend in with the surrounding mountains.
“The new colours will also better accentuate landscaping features,” she said.
Not changed from the first exterior design proposal is the use of wood accent features for the main floor and hospital entrances.
And with substantial basement and main floor progress, also remaining unchanged is the footprint of the replacement for the current Mills Memorial.
To date the budget for the project, which also includes a replacement for the Seven Sisters mental health residential facility located on hospital grounds, remains at $622.3 million.
That figure does not include a decision reached after the interior design had been completed and projected to boost the level of maternal and neonatal care, something that has been estimated to cost an additional $14.5 million.
How this will be financed has yet to be released.
Also undecided at the moment is when work will begin on the new Seven Sisters. The current one is to be demolished as part of the new Mills construction project but that can’t happen until the new one is done and patients moved.
When finished, the new Mills will have 78 beds of various kinds, nearly double the 44 beds in the current Mills. That number includes 20 beds in the regional psychiatric unit, an increase of ten. There will also be 20 treatment beds, an increase of 10, in the emergency department.
The new Seven Sisters facility will have 25 beds, an increase of five.