Construction of the new Portage Regional Health Centre is complete, marking a significant milestone in the long-anticipated expansion of health care services for Portage la Prairie and the surrounding region.
With the building phase finished, attention is now turning to the final preparations needed before the hospital opens to patients in fall 2026. That work includes the installation of medical equipment and digital systems, along with extensive training for clinical and operational staff to ensure a smooth and safe transition into the new facility.
The two-storey hospital spans approximately 275,000 square feet and has been designed to meet both current and future health care needs. Once operational, it will house 114 acute care beds and offer a full range of services, including medical care, palliative care, rehabilitation, family birthing, surgical services and special care.
Watching the project take shape
For the Portage District General Hospital Foundation, the completion of construction is a moment that reflects years of anticipation and steady progress.
“We’ve been watching this building come to life right before our eyes,” notes executive director Tara Pettinger. “As the foundation, we’ve been trying to post on our social media and do news stories just with little snippets of some photos of the inside and keep people a little bit up to speed on the progress.”
A rendering of the new Portage Regional Health Centre, showing the two-storey design and modern facility that will house 114 acute care beds and a full range of services when it opens in fall 2026. Courtesy Southern Health
Pettinger says the milestone brings a shift in focus, from watching walls go up to seeing the building begin to fill with the tools needed to care for patients.
“This is obviously a very exciting step,” says Pettinger. “Now, as the foundation, we just watch it start to fill up.”
Preparing for the move
As Southern Health works toward transitioning services into the new hospital, the foundation is positioning itself to support that process however possible.
“We just want to be here for whatever Southern Health needs from us,” adds Pettinger. “As they’re working towards getting the equipment they need, seeing what gaps there are in the project budget, we want to be there to help support that and purchase those things.”
She says the foundation has already committed significant funding to the new facility and expects that commitment to grow as additional needs are identified.
Tara Pettinger, executive director of the Portage District General Hospital Foundation. PortageOnline/Mike Blume
“We’ve already committed just over $1.3 million in different pieces of equipment and things that will go in there,” continues Pettinger. “We know that the needs and the opportunities to provide enhancements for that facility will just keep coming our way.”
Beyond equipment purchases, the foundation is also planning to support staff during the physical move from the existing hospital into the new building.
“We also have offered things like food on the day of transition for staff and things like that,” remarks Pettinger. “It’s going to be a wild ride moving from one hospital to another.”
Designed for patients and staff
Pettinger says the design of the new health centre is expected to significantly change the patient experience, particularly for those spending longer periods of time in care.
“When you see the new hospital and you get an opportunity to see just the space and the sizing, everything from the colours and just the level of comfort and just a clean, modern space, everybody’s experience will just change,” mentions Pettinger. “Individual rooms, more space for visitors, which can be important in some scenarios when you’re going through kind of a health journey.”
Staff workflows were also a key consideration in the design process.
“There’s a lot of like space and flow and things like that for the staff [that] have been taken into consideration through the design of the building,” says Pettinger. “Obviously, as the foundation, we’re just on the outside looking in.”
A project of major scale
The scale of the Portage Regional Health Centre is reflected not only in its size, but in the scope of work required to build it. Over the past two and a half years, construction crews dedicated more than 1.49 million worker hours to the project, the equivalent of more than 170 years of combined effort.
The build required 10,500 cubic metres of concrete, enough to fill four Olympic-sized swimming pools, along with 1,700 tonnes of structural steel, roughly the weight of 1,200 cars. Inside the facility, crews installed 35,000 lineal feet of interior walls and 1.4 million square feet of drywall, enough to cover 32 acres or stretch 66 miles if laid end to end.
The attention to detail extended throughout the building, with 238 exterior punch windows, 951 interior doors and more than 10,000 pieces of hardware installed. An additional 190,000 square feet of ceiling grid was placed across the facility.
Community support continues
Pettinger says the foundation’s current financial position reflects years of strong community support, not just since the hospital announcement but long before it.
“We all know that a hospital in Portage has been something that people have been talking about for years and years,” adds Pettinger. “People have been donating very generously over a number of years.”
While day-to-day needs are well supported, she says larger projects tied to the new hospital could require future fundraising efforts. For now, she says the focus remains on supporting the transition and preparing the facility for its first patients, as the new Portage Regional Health Centre moves closer to opening its doors.