COLLINGWOOD — As part of its comprehensive plan to end hallway health care, the Ontario government is investing over $15 million to support the planning and design of the redeveloped Collingwood General and Marine Hospital. Once complete, the hospital’s existing aged infrastructure will be expanded and upgraded, improving access to high-quality care for people living in Collingwood and the surrounding areas.
“After years of waiting, patients and their families can finally look forward to a new and improved Collingwood General and Marine Hospital, ensuring the hospital’s dedicated staff and frontline health care workers can continue delivering high-quality care in the community,” said Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health. “By investing in major hospital infrastructure, our government is furthering our commitment to build a modern, connected health care system and put an end to hallway health care for all Ontarians.”
Originally built in 1956, the current Collingwood General and Marine Hospital has been serving a growing community with an increasing senior population for over 60 years with limited upgrades. Through this investment, the hospital’s aging infrastructure will be redeveloped through a mix of new construction as well as renovations. The redeveloped hospital will include:
- the expansion of key services, including intensive care, emergency, diagnostic imaging and the operating suite;
- additional inpatient capacity to allow the hospital to serve more patients and families; and
- renovations to upgrade the existing facility to ensure a comfortable environment for patients to receive care.
This funding is in addition to the $500,000 previously invested to support early capital planning. Further planning work will confirm priority programs for the hospital. Timelines for project implementation and construction will be determined once planning has been completed.
“We are very pleased to receive approval from the Capital Branch of the Ministry of Health for our Stage One submission, and to officially move to Stage Two of the five-stage process,” said Norah Holder, Collingwood General and Marine Hospital President and CEO. “Collingwood General and Marine Hospital and our community are excited to commence engaging in Stage Two of the process. This announcement represents a significant milestone regarding our hospital redevelopment project.”
In addition to supporting the hospital’s redevelopment and expansion, the Ontario government is taking further action to support Collingwood General and Marine Hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic by increasing the hospital’s operating funding for the third straight year. Collingwood General and Marine Hospital will receive over $1.9 million in additional operating funding starting this year, representing an increase of 4.2 per cent to the funding received by the hospital in 2020/21. This is the third straight year of increased hospital investments across the province.
The 2021 Budget, Ontario’s Action Plan: Protecting People’s Health and Our Economy, outlined a total of $1.8 billion in additional investments for hospitals in 2021-22. This includes an increase of $778 million in funding to meet current and future demands for services, and ensures all publicly funded hospitals will receive a minimum 1 per cent increase to help them keep pace with patient needs and to increase access to high-quality care for patients and families across Ontario.
Quick Facts
- Collingwood General and Marine Hospital provides a variety of health care services to more than 60,000 people who live and work in the community, as well as over 3.5 million annual visitors who visit the surrounding communities.
- As Ontario continues on the path to reopening and recovery, the government is investing up to $324 million in new funding to enable hospitals and the community health sector to perform more surgeries, MRI and CT scans and procedures, as part of a wider, comprehensive surgical recovery plan to provide patients with the care they need and reduce wait surgical times.
- The government is investing more than $21 billion in capital grants over the next 10 years for hospital projects across Ontario that will lead to $30 billion in hospital infrastructure.
- As part of the province’s fall preparedness plan, Collingwood General and Marine Hospital received funding for up to 25 additional transitional beds to help build additional capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Under the 2021 Budget, Ontario is investing an additional $1.8 billion in the hospital sector in 2021-2022, bringing the total additional investment in hospitals since the start of the pandemic to over $5.1 billion. This includes creating more than 3,100 additional hospital beds to increase capacity and reduce occupancy pressures caused by COVID-19.
Quotes
“The Collingwood General and Marine Hospital Board is absolutely thrilled to officially move to Stage Two of the redevelopment process. This step forward means a great deal to the South Georgian Bay community and our dedicated employees and physicians at Collingwood General and Marine Hospital.”
– Lesley Paul
Collingwood General and Marine Hospital Board Chair
“Today is an important step in the process of achieving our goal of a new hospital for South Georgian Bay. I am grateful to the Ford government for its commitment to this long overdue project. And, on behalf of the community, I want to thank Minister Elliott for fulfilling her promise to visit Collingwood General and Marine to see first-hand the need for investment in the future of health services for our fast-growing region.”
– Jim Wilson
MPP for Simcoe-Grey
“On behalf of all of the communities and residents of the South Georgian Bay region that rely on Collingwood General and Marine Hospital, I want to thank the Province of Ontario for its commitment to provide the necessary funding to plan and design the much needed healthcare facility. I want to congratulate the Hospital Board, Foundation and staff for their unwavering commitment to the residents of our region to provide the right services and infrastructure to meet the growing needs of our region. Today’s announcement is an important milestone in the redevelopment process and I know our communities will continue to work together to ensure that our residents have access to a state of the art healthcare facility for generations to come.”
– Brian Saunderson
Mayor of the Town of Collingwood
“This is great news for the entire region of South Georgian Bay, one of the fastest growing areas of Ontario. This funding is an important step towards meeting our exploding future health care needs as a retirement destination of choice and with the influx of residents we have seen due to the trend to living here and working from home.”
– Alar Soever
Mayor of the Town of The Blue Mountains
“Clearview Township is pleased to hear that the Ministry of Health is supporting our regional hospital, the Collingwood General and Marine Hospital.”
– Doug Measures
Mayor of the Township of Clearview
“This is great news for the Southern Georgian Bay region where we have seen consistent growth over the past few decades. We need a state-of-the-art hospital that will support the growth of this region. Having served on the Collingwood General and Marine Hospital Board for 12 years, I know how important this funding will be. We are grateful the province will continue to support our region’s growth by giving much-needed funds for the redevelopment of this hospital.”
– Paul McQueen
Mayor of Grey Highlands
“This is exciting news for our region and those communities served by Collingwood General and Marine Hospital. Our residents require an updated facility as well as to meet the growth we are experiencing in this area of the province. I am pleased to see the province recognizing the need, investing in infrastructure and providing additional operating dollars.”
– Nina Bifolchi
Town of Wasaga Beach
SOURCE: Province of Ontario
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