TORONTO — As part of its plan stay open, the Ontario government is investing over $1 billion to redevelop and expand Unity Health Toronto’s St. Joseph’s Health Centre. This funding will build a stronger Ontario by delivering a new state-of-the-art patient care tower and supporting renovations to the existing hospital to expand much-needed health care services and improve access to high-quality care for the residents of Toronto and the surrounding communities.
“Our government continues to make key investments to build the infrastructure needed to end hallway health care and create a stronger, more resilient health care system,” said Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “This over a billion dollar investment to redevelop Unity Health Toronto’s St. Joseph’s Health Centre will ensure that patients and families can receive high-quality care when they need it.”
St. Joseph’s Health Centre is a community teaching hospital that serves the diverse and growing needs of the west Toronto community of nearly half a million people. Every year, more than 100,000 patients visit the emergency department. This redevelopment will include a new state-of-the-art patient care tower with an expanded emergency department and new spaces for operating rooms, critical care, and medical, surgical and mental health inpatient programs. Over 100 new beds are planned to be added to St. Joseph’s Health Centre, for a total of over 400 beds.
The updated infrastructure, new beds and enhanced services will help the world-class team at Unity Health Toronto continue to provide high-quality, compassionate care for families in Toronto.
“Thank you to the Ontario government for making this historic investment in St. Joseph’s Health Centre that will provide residents in West Toronto the necessary hospital infrastructure that will benefit residents and future generations to come,” says Dr. Tim Rutledge, President and CEO of Unity Health Toronto. “Today’s announcement represents a major milestone in St. Joseph’s century long legacy that will bring high-quality care in modern spaces with the latest technology, and more private rooms. Once complete, this project will help reduce wait times, improve access to care and end hallway health care.”
Ontario is working with Unity Health Toronto to advance to the next stage of the planning process, which includes finalizing programming, operational and space requirements and assessing how the project can meet the health care needs of patients and families in the region. Once planning is completed, the hospital is expected to begin construction in the next few years based on current planning.
Quick Facts
- For over 100 years, Unity Health Toronto’s St. Joseph’s Health Centre has been serving the health care needs of the diverse communities of west Toronto. A community teaching health centre affiliated with the University of Toronto, the hospital serves nearly half a million people.
- In 2020, the government made an initial $5 million investment to support early planning to redevelop the hospital to better meet the needs of the diverse community it serves.
- The government has provided Unity Health Toronto with Stage 2 construction approval for the major redevelopment of St. Joseph’s Health Centre.
- 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 Unity Health Toronto’s operating funding for the fourth straight year. Last year, the hospital received over $21.1 million in additional operating funding, representing an increase of 2.7 per cent to the operating funding 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, Unity Health Toronto received $18.2 million for 2020-21 lost revenue 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 hospital beds during the pandemic, Unity Health Toronto received funding for up to 42 acute beds and seven 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.
Quotes
“St. Joseph’s has been a staple of our community for many generations, delivering world-class research and innovative treatments serving tens of thousands of Etobians, always with compassion and empathy. Today’s announcement of an over $1 billion investment to expand the delivery of state-of-the-art health care to Etobians at St. Joseph’s is very welcome and timely. As our community of Etobicoke is growing, so does the need for more health care. I’m very happy our government is building Etobicoke through delivering on the commitment of expanding health care.”
– Kinga Surma
Minister of Infrastructure and MPP for Etobicoke Centre
“The Sisters of St. Joseph’s were called to serve those in need with simplicity and compassion: The homeless. The alienated. The poor. Women at risk. We are proud to support their legacy through today’s expansion and redevelopment funding announcement.”
– Christine Hogarth
MPP for Etobicoke—Lakeshore
SOURCE Province of Ontario
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