Concrete foundation work for the helipad at the Northern Lights Regional Health Centre is set to start later this week.
Manholes are complete and work on in-ground utilities is expected to be finished by the beginning of May.
Director for Project Management for Alberta Health Services Mark Smyth said the project is still on schedule to be complete by the end of 2018.
“The longer winter has certainly has offered a few more challenges but we continue to work through that.”
He said once the concrete foundation is done, they can start preparing for structural steel work which is expected to start mid-May.
The helipad will be level with the main floor of the hospital, allowing close proximity to operating rooms and the emergency department.
Once complete, Local H.E.R.O. air ambulance patients will be able to land at the hospital, rather than the airport, then transported by ground ambulance.
Landing at the hospital will save approximately 20 minutes of travel for patients.
