HAMILTON — As part of its plan to stay open, the Ontario government is investing over $20 million to modernize Hamilton Health Sciences. This funding will support planning for the redevelopment of Juravinski Hospital and Cancer Centre and the expansion of Hamilton General Hospital’s emergency department to improve access to services for the growing region around Hamilton, West Niagara and south-central 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 Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “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.”
Today I joined @SkellyHamilton to announce over $20M for @HamHealthSci for the redevelopment of Juravinski Hospital & Cancer Centre and the expansion of Hamilton General’s emergency department, which will improve access to services for the growing region.https://t.co/0FPd5perBI pic.twitter.com/4CtJd8dp9M
— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) April 20, 2022
Building on the $3 million previously invested, the government is providing Hamilton Health Sciences with an additional $5 million to help plan the redevelopment of the Juravinski Hospital to address the needs of the growing population in the region. The redevelopment is planned to include 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, and will also help 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.
“This is an exciting moment for health care in our region,” said Rob MacIsaac, President and CEO of Hamilton Health Sciences. “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. We are grateful for the government’s support, partnership and investment to continue planning toward building the largest inpatient hospital facility in our region, allowing our hospital to grow alongside the many communities it serves.”
In addition, an investment of more than $15 million is planned to support a new project to expand the emergency department at the Hamilton General Hospital. This 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. 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,” said Dr. Kuldeep Sidhu, Chief, Emergency Medicine, Hamilton Health Sciences. “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 and Juravinkski Hospital and Cancer Centre are part of a world-class healthcare system,” said Donna Skelly, MPP for Flamborough-Glanbrook. “This additional funding of over $20 million will help alleviate pressures on HHS hospitals and underscores our government’s commitment to increase hospital capacity.”
Ontario is working with Hamilton Health Sciences to continue planning for these projects, which include identifying programming, operational and space requirements and assessing how the project can further help address the health care needs of patients and families in the region.
Quick Facts
- Juravinski Hospital and Cancer Centre is a vital acute hospital facility providing urgent and emergency care, critical care, general medicine and specialty surgical programs, including orthopedics and adult oncology to Hamilton and its surrounding communities. The proposed redevelopment project will make Juravinski the largest inpatient hospital facility in the region.
- 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.
- To further support the high-quality care provided by Ontario’s hospitals, the government is providing an additional $827 million to hospitals across the province, representing a four per cent increase from last year. This will ensure all publicly funded hospitals receive a minimum two per cent increase to their budgets to help them better meet patient needs, while building a stronger, more resilient health care system.
- The Ontario government is increasing Hamilton Health Sciences’ operating funding for the fourth straight year. Last year, Hamilton Health Sciences received over $22.5 million in additional operating funding, representing an increase of 2.5 per cent to the operating funding the hospital received the year before.
- As part of the government’s over $1.2 billion investment to help hospitals recover from financial pressures created and worsened by COVID-19, Hamilton Health Sciences received over $17.2 million for 2020-21 lost revenue in order to provide financial stability and support continued high-quality patient care.
- As part of the government’s $760 million commitment in the 2021 Budget to support over 3,100 additional hospital beds during the COVID-19 pandemic, Hamilton Health Sciences received funding for up to 136 transitional care and three critical care beds. To support growing demands on the health care system, Ontario’s investments over the next 10 years will lead to $30 billion in health infrastructure across the province. These investments will increase capacity in hospitals, build new health care facilities and renew existing hospitals and community health centres.
SOURCE Province of Ontario
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