(VOCM News)
The province says the cost of building a new hospital complex at Kenmount Crossing is just too high to justify at this time.
Infrastructure Minister Barry Petten says the project, at an estimated cost of $10 billion, had to be scrapped.
Then-premier Andrew Furey at the site of the new acute care hospital in Kenmount Crossing in November 2024 (VOCM News)
The former Liberal government announced plans in late 2024 to build a new acute care campus where St. John’s, Mount Pearl and Paradise meet to replace St. Clare’s in the city’s downtown.
Barry Petten says with the province staring down a billion dollar deficit, he just couldn’t justify building the new facility.
“We could never find any information on any planning for our hospital other than the fact that he went into St. Clare’s one day and announced the hospital,” he told reporters.
“I was at a loss when I was sworn in and I’m sure our premier, if he was here, would agree 100 per cent that we were totally dismayed that this building was proposed with zero dollars attached at an atrocious cost.”
Petten says government plans to modernize the existing St. Clare’s Hospital instead.
Government is also scrapping the previous administration’s plans for a mid-sized theatre for St. John’s and a sports and wellness dome. Other projects are being paused or reassessed, including the Janeway redevelopment and the downtown wellness clinic.