Alberta Health Services could be spending $4.5 billion over 16 years to overhaul the Royal Alexandra Hospital (RAH).

More details for the future of the hospital were released Tuesday morning on the AHS website, ahead of the master plan being completed next month.

The plan is to either renovate or demolish nine of the 20 buildings at the RAH, Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital and CapitalCare Norwood.

Highlights in the plan include building a 100-bed child and teen mental health building and an 800-bed acute care tower.

Renovations to the active treatment and diagnostic centres are also proposed.

“Those hospitals are aging and we have to replace them,” said Dr. David Mador with AHS.

In a statement, the Alberta Government said it plans to “address the needs at the Royal Alex and balance them with others from across the province in this challenging fiscal climate."

Highlights from the Needs Assessment:

  • The need for major renovation or demolition of nine of the 20 buildings across the three sites.
  • The need for 435,200 Building Gross Square Meters, or 4.6 million Building Gross Square Feet, and 1,849 beds to accommodate 157 programs on the campus.
  • Bed increases from around 1,115 beds (of which about 900 are currently in use), to 1,174 at the RAH, and from 244 to 325 at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital.
  • A plan to proceed in four phases over 16 years at a cost of $4.479 billion.
  • A recommendation to proceed with Phase 1 and 2 over the next 10 years at a cost of $2.75 billion.
  • Phases 1 and 2 include:
  • Construction of a Child and Adolescent Mental Health (CAMH) building to consolidate Youth and Adolescent Mental Health from the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital and Royal Alexandra Hospital, and Youth Addiction and Mental Health beds from Alberta Hospital and Yellowhead Youth Centre and RAH (approx 100 beds);
  • Construction of a Clinical Services Centre to house programs/services decanted from buildings to be demolished;
  • Construction of an Acute Care Tower at the RAH (approx 800 beds, including 64 additional rehabilitation beds to support the Glenrose until a Glenrose South Tower is built as part of phase 3);
  • Phase 1 renovations to the Active Treatment Centre and Diagnostic Treatment Centre for low intensity care spaces/education/offices/on-call rooms.