The Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, is in dire need of repairs worth half a billion dollars, according to the Alberta New Democratic Party.
Hospital documents also show that a high proportion of four-bed rooms and two-bed rooms in the Royal Alex risk cross-patient infections and reduce patient privacy, according to an article on the CBC News website.
“The ventilation system … is not at the minimum standard for infection control and the conclusion is that fixing that is more expensive than just building a brand new tower,” party officials said.
The Alexandra Hospital Bed Replacement Tower project was listed as a first priority in 2013 by Alberta Health Services. The plan included replacing approximately 500 medicine and surgery beds.