Last Wednesday, the Government of Ontario officially broke ground on a new and expanded emergency department at Hamilton General Hospital.
The renovation and expansion will reportedly increase space by 35 per cent, improve patient flow, and support faster access to care.
Construction will take place over the next four years in six strategic phases, with completion slated for 2030.
The emergency department will remain open throughout that time.
The project is being funded by $25 million from the Ontario government as well as money from donors.
The current emergency department is designed for 100 patients per day, but has “exceeded this volume and acuity, reaching an average of 142 patients per day,” according to the Hamilton Health Sciences website.
Hamilton General Hospital is the only Level 1 Adult Regional Trauma Centre in south-central Ontario, which means staff care for patients with the most severe and complex emergencies.
The hospital also has a number of regional referral programs, including burns, cardiac catheterization, cardiac surgery, electrophysiology, endovascular treatment, extracorporeal life support (ECMO), neurosurgery, stroke, trauma, and vascular surgery.
Tracey MacArthur, President and CEO of Hamilton Health Sciences, commented on the ground breaking in a press release.
“Every day, the most critically ill patients from across our region come to Hamilton Health Sciences’ Hamilton General Hospital for life-saving, specialized care,” she said.
“Modernizing the emergency department will strengthen our ability to care for these patients by improving patient flow and providing our emergency teams with the environment they need to deliver world-class care. We are grateful for the province’s investment in this critical infrastructure and in the future of emergency care for the people who depend on it.”
The new emergency department will have 8,500 square feet of additional space and include an upgraded resuscitation area, additional treatment rooms, nursing stations, and staff work areas, improved patient navigation, better sightlines and enhanced infection prevention and control measures.
To enhance infection control there will be two airborne isolation rooms, upgraded filtration systems, and more bathrooms and hygiene stations.
New equipment and expanded specialized care areas will include a new 18-bay subacute area, larger triage spaces, a new rapid assessment zone and an observation room.
There will also be an expanded eight-bay ambulance offload area, upgrades to diagnostics and recovery spaces, security upgrades, and a new spiritual care centre.
“Every day, Hamilton General is there for families across our region when they need it most,” said Neil Lumsden, Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Hamilton East–Stoney Creek.
“This expansion means shorter waits, better spaces and faster access to the emergency care people count on – so as Hamilton grows, this hospital keeps pace delivering world-class care for generations to come.”
The project contract has been granted to Chart Construction, a prominent Canadian firm based in Woodbridge, Ontario.
Over the next 10 years, Ontario is investing approximately $64 billion in major health infrastructure and planning more than 50 major hospital projects across the province.
Those projects are expected to add approximately 3,000 new hospital beds.
One of those projects, Hamilton Health Sciences’ new West Lincoln Memorial Hospital in Grimsby, celebrated its grand opening in November 2025.
Based in Hamilton, he reaches hundreds of thousands of people monthly on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. He has been published in The Hamilton Spectator, Stoney Creek News, and Bay Observer. He has also been a segment host with Cable 14 Hamilton. In 2017, he received the Chancellor Full Tuition Scholarship from the University of Ottawa (BA, 2022). He has also received the Governor General’s Academic Medal. He formerly worked in a non-partisan role on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
