The Northern Health Authority has ended months of speculation regarding the name of its new hospital in Terrace by giving it one reflective of the Tsimshian people on whose traditional territory it has been built.

Ksyen (pronounced KUH-see-yen) Regional Hospital comes from the Tsimshian Sm'algyax language name for the Skeena River.

But there will be recognition given to Dr. Stanley Mills whose name graced the 60-year old structure the new hospital is replacing in the form of a history wall in Kseyn Regional Hospital.

There had been calls to incorporate the name Mills in the new building to recognize the role he and his wife, Edith, a nurse, played in providing medical care for decades in Terrace and the area.

Northern Health said Ksyen Regional Hospital was proposed by the Kitsumkalum First Nation and arose out of discussions between local governments and local First Nations.

"With this new hospital we now have a significant and meaningful opportunity to recognize and honour the historic past, the first peoples and the Indigenous territory that this facility is on,鈥� said Northern Health board chair Colleen Nyce.

"In particular I thank both Kitsumkalum and Kitselas First Nations for coming together to allow this very appropriate Tsimshian name to be used,鈥� added Nyce. Kitselas Chief Councillor Glenn Bennett had earlier written to Nyce indicating the land on which the new hospital sits was within its territory.

In addition to a presence on a history wall, the new hospital's ambulatory care unit will be named in honour of Mills.

A date has not been set yet for an official naming ceremony.

Northern Health has had possession of the new hospital for some months while contractors installed state-of-the art medical equipment, completed finishing touches and Northern Health employees became familiar with their new surroundings.

Ksyen Regional Hospital is expected to become fully operational in the fourth week of November.

An original stated cost of $622.6 million was later increased by $14.5 million to account for the addition of an advanced care unit for newborns and women experiencing high-risk pregnancies.