HALIFAX — EllisDon construction company has been awarded a $259.4-million contract to design, build, finance and maintain an outpatient centre on the outskirts of Halifax.

The outpatient centre will be built in Bayers Lake and is part of the $2-billion redevelopment of the QEII Health Sciences Centre.

Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal Minister Lloyd Hines said today in a news release EllisDon beat out two other proposals and is an experienced company that will deliver the outpatient centre "on time and on budget."

Construction is scheduled to start this fall and is expected to be completed in August 2023.

The government says patients living in rural communities and outside Halifax's downtown core will be the facility's primary users.

It will offer services that do not require a hospital setting such as initial visits with specialists, post-surgery or post-treatment follow-up, blood collection and X-rays.

The centre is expected to handle 28,000 clinic visits and 30,000 X-ray and blood collection visits each year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 21, 2020.

The Canadian Press