Bermuda Hospitals Board has selected a group of companies to build the new hospital and says contracts could be finalised by early December.

The building, with a projected cost of $315 million, will be designed, built, financed and maintained for the next 30 years by Paget Health Services. The hospital is expected to be built by 2014.

The new building on the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital site will address the shortage of space at the current facility, as outlined in the 2008 Johns Hopkins Medicine International Phase II review. It will include 90-single occupant en suite patient rooms and Bermuda's first dedicated day surgery unit.

Ambulance services like oncology, dialysis, asthma and diabetes will be incorporated, as will diagnostic imaging services, a new emergency room and utility plant.

A BHB spokeswoman said yesterday: "The new building will allow us to offer health and wellness services in an environment that provides the privacy, comfort and dignity that Bermuda's patients deserve. It will also ease pressure on the existing KEMH building, allowing space there to be reallocated."

Paget Health Services, a collection of 14 local and international companies, beat two other shortlisted teams.

They were selected based on pre-established criteria and proved to meet BHB's specifications while offering best value to Bermuda, said BHB.

Chief executive officer David Hill said: "BHB was very pleased to receive bids from three strong consortia in response to the RFP we released to the shortlisted teams in December 2009.

"The selection of preferred bidder marks yet another milestone BHB has reached on schedule, as we near the end of our procurement process."

Deputy CEO Venetta Symonds said: "As the executive lead for the board on this project, I believe it is significant that our staff, supported by our clinical advisory team, determined what was required clinically for Bermuda.

"I am very proud of the level of commitment shown by all members of the evaluation team. We are now another step closer to opening the doors of a new building that is purpose built for Bermuda's future acute health care requirements."

Herman Tucker, the chairman of BHB said the new building would allow it to "provide quality acute care in a better environment for patients and staff".

He added: "But we are not waiting for new or upgraded buildings; we are improving now. We have implemented many initiatives in response to feedback from our patients and we are offering more specialist services here on the Island by having doctors from our various overseas health care partners travel to Bermuda rather than having patients travel abroad."

BHB expects contract negotiations to finish in late November or early December. Meanwhile, it is working to get planning approval and will open a public exhibition on October 9 at Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute.

Work to prepare the site is ongoing, while BHB's new substation and parking lot project are nearly complete. These will replace the old parking lot and substation that need to be destroyed to make way for the new structure. The spokeswoman said: "Staff and services are moving out of buildings on the development zone in phases.

"Once the contract is finalised, the management of the development zone will be turned over to the BHB's private partner. BHB retains ownership of the land and the building under construction. "Groundbreaking is anticipated soon after contract signature, with a construction period of about three years, and patients being cared for in the new facilities in 2014."

Paget Health Services includes: Sir Robert McAlpine Limited, PFI Investors Limited, BCM McAlpine Limited, AECOM Limited, Swanke Hayden Connell, OBM International Limited, Black & McDonald Limited, IBM (through Bermuda Computer Services), Ernst & Young LLP, Wakefield Quin, BF&M Insurance Limited, Macfarlane Wilder, Mid-Atlantic Engineering and Brunel Ltd.