Officials made the announcement Wednesday, Apr. 20, 2022. Pictured left to right: MPP for Flamborough-Glanbrook Donna Skelly, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health Christine Elliott, president and CEO of Hamilton Health Sciences Rob MacIsaac, and Chief of Emergency Medicine Dr. Kuldeep Sidhu. Photo credit: Twitter/Hamilton Health Sciences
As part of its long-term commitment to rebuild and modernize Ontario’s deteriorating healthcare system, the provincial government is investing $20 million into two Hamilton Health Sciences locations.
The funding will support planning for the redevelopment of Juravinski Hospital and Cancer Centre and the expansion of Hamilton General Hospital’s emergency department. Together, the projects will improve access to important services for the growing region around Hamilton, West Niagara, and southcentral Ontario.
“By investing in these important projects, we are delivering on our government’s commitment to build a stronger, more resilient health care system and end hallway health care,” said Deputy Premier and Minister of Health Christine Elliott.
“This investment will ensure Hamilton Health Sciences can better meet the growing needs of the communities it serves and provide much-needed care and services now and into the future.”
Supplementing a previous $3 million investment, the province is providing another $5 million to Hamilton Health Sciences to help plan the redevelopment of the Juravinski Hospital.
The redevelopment project includes a new patient care tower that will significantly increase inpatient services and add over 100 new inpatient beds at the Juravinski site. Renovations to existing infrastructure are also planned that will increase capacity for ambulatory care and support programs such as general and orthopedic surgery, adult oncology, intensive care, general medicine, and ensure patient care is provided in modern facilities.
The proposed redevelopment project will make Juravinski the largest inpatient hospital facility in the region.
“This is an exciting moment for health care in our region,” said president and CEO of Hamilton Health Sciences Rob MacIsaac. “Redeveloping Juravinski Hospital and Cancer Centre will further expand the reach of our leading regional programs, add vital inpatient beds to the system, and modernize patient areas for our teams to provide exceptional care.”
The provincial government will also be investing more than $15 million to expand the emergency department at Hamilton General Hospital. According to the province, the new project will help relieve space and volume pressures, provide additional space for ambulance off-loading and improve wait times for patients.
The Hamilton General Hospital site serves approximately 50,000 patient visits a year.
“Hospital emergency departments are a vital access point for the most critically ill patients in our community,” said chief of emergency medicine at Hamilton Health Sciences Dr. Kuldeep Sidhu. “Enhancements to the Hamilton General Hospital’s ED, which is one of the busiest trauma centres in the province, will improve patient flow, increase available patient care space, and give our expert teams greater ability to treat and triage patients in more efficient manner.”
“We look forward to getting underway on this important renovation and expanding our ability to provide timely, emergent care to those who need it.”
Hamilton General Hospital is home to the regional trauma centre serving 2.5 million people in and surrounding Hamilton. The hospital provides leading regional programs including cardiac, vascular, neurosurgical, stroke, trauma and burn care.
