Dartmouth General Hospital renovations to include more beds, ORs

Expansion plans for the Dartmouth General Hospital are moving forward with a contract awarded Tuesday for the design of the fifth floor and attached addition to the facility.

The fifth floor will contain 46 more beds and eight new operating rooms. The floor is currentlyoutfitted with pipes and sprinklers, buthas been used for storage and not patients.The project also includes a new intensive care unit and pharmacy.

The hospital design contract has beenawarded to DIALOG Nova Scotia Architecture Engineering Interior DesignPlanning Inc.

This comes as the government and provincial health authority are grappling with problems caused by severe flooding last month at the Victoria General hospital site in Halifax.

"These new accommodations will help relieve some of the pressure from the Victoria General site in the short term and lay the foundation for the longer term plan that government has been working on," Health Minister LeoGlavine said in a news release.

The fifth floor work and expansionis in addition torenovation work currently underway on theDartmouth General's third and fourth floors.

The first stage of detailed design is expected to take 12 to 14 months to complete and the renovations will begin soon after.

The projected costof the five-year project is $132 million.