Opening of Surgical Facility Slightly Delayed

REGINA, Feb. 7, 2012 /CNW/ - The opening of a new Regina facility designed to provide surgeries for ear, nose and throat, orthopedics and dental procedures will be delayed two weeks. The facility, which will house five operating theatres, and will be run by Calgary-based Surgical Centres Inc (SCI), was due to start surgeries on February 13^th, but will now likely not see any procedures until February 24^th.  The reason for the delay is that oxygen supply lines did not meet new construction code guidelines.

"We are of course very disappointed by this delay," says Fatima Fazal, Chief Operating Officer for SCI.  "We have been in business for over 20 years, are very thankful to the Regina Qu'Appelle Health Region (RQHR) for awarding us this contract, and wanted to start providing needed surgeries as quickly as possible."  Fazal notes that SCI continues to be focused on getting the facilities opened as soon as possible.

"PCL, as the chosen builder for SCI has discovered through our rigorous quality assurance program that the type of soldering used for joints on the copper tubing did meet the required specification or code requirements," says Kris Hildebrand, District Manager for PCL. "This is not acceptable to PCL as the safety of our workers and the public have always been paramount to our company. Subsequently, the corrective action was taken immediately and will revise the completion date of the work to February 17^th, 2012."

SCI understands that during construction delays routinely occur, but are focused on getting the centre opened as soon as possible.  "We were given this contract to reduce wait times for surgical procedures and to free up surgical time for other procedures in RQHR acute care facilities and that's our priority" says Fazal.  "We have a stellar record of providing these services, and are eager to open our doors in Regina."

Fatima Fazal at 403-640-1188 ext 127