Province responds to Saskatchewan Hospital allegations by NDP

The minister responsible for SaskBuilds has responded to Tuesday’s announcement by NDP Leader Ryan Meili on concerns surrounding North Battleford’s Saskatchewan Hospital.

The announcement revealed emailed documents obtained by the NDP outlining concerns raised by the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) with material used in the build. It directly connected the issues with the facility’s faulty roof, and how similar material was used on its cladding.

Gordon Wyant, the minister responsible for SaskBuilds and Saskatchewan’s deputy premier, issued a statement to 650 CKOM on Wednesday on the release of the documents.

“In any build — be it P3 or traditional — the government does not select or approve individual materials for use during construction. That is done by the private sector partner regardless of the model,” the statement read.

“In the case of the Saskatchewan Hospital North Battleford (SHNB) the selection of products would have been up to Access Prairie Partnerships (APP) and its subcontractors. We understand that in this instance, two different products were used but provided by the same manufacturer and the builder is seeking recovery from the supplier.”

Wyant stated that his government continues to “monitor the situation at the Saskatchewan Hospital North Battleford to ensure patient and staff impact is minimal.”

Issues with the building’s roof caused more than 20 patients to be moved, Tuesday’s report stated.

In October, the government committed to a full audit of the facility, which Wyant said “is expected to be completed in Spring.”

On Tuesday, Meili urged the province to stop using the P3 model to build provincial infrastructure. He said issues have been raised with the Saskatchewan Hospital, Swift Current’s Long Term Care Centre, and the Regina Bypass projects, all built with the P3 model.

Wyant addressed those concerns in his statement.

“We believe in building public infrastructure in the way that most makes sense. In the case of the SHNB, the P3 model has saved taxpayer dollars and protected taxpayers from risk and associated costs,” it stated.

“While product integrity is not the responsibility of government under the P3 model, government did raise this question with APP at the time of the building envelope failure in Fall 2017. APP indicated there was no issue with the roof, which was constructed at the same time but used different material. It was not until a spring melt in 2019 that the roof failure was identified through months of extensive testing that APP undertook.”

Another issue raised Tuesday by Meili was Saskatchewan’s procurement process. He said he wants to ensure that major infrastructure in the province is built by Saskatchewan companies, using local material and workers.

Wyant also addressed the process in his Wednesday statement.

“Our government has listened to our local companies and worked hard to ensure they are represented in our economy. In 2014, Priority Saskatchewan was established to enable local companies to compete in and win contracts fairly,” it reads.

“Regarding SHNB, this project created 1,500 construction-related jobs, with 31 Saskatchewan-based companies involved in the project, and almost 20 per cent of all construction hours having been completed by First Nations and Métis workers.”

Wyant added that in April 2019, the Single Procurement Service was created within SaskBuilds. During the service’s first six months of operations, more than 250 procurements valued at more than $148 million were completed.

Ninety-two per cent of those procurement activities were awarded to Saskatchewan-based companies, the statement reads. The value of the activities had an approximated value of $137 million.