An upcoming massive expansion at Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre is actually two construction projects - the first is a major redevelopment and expansion at the current hospital site and the second which is happening at the same time, is a state-of-the-art new south campus in Innisfil. Expected construction cost for both is estimated at $3 billion.
Barrie Today states that the local share of this $3 billion cost is estimated to be 10 per cent for municipalities and fundraising, with the province picking up the remainder.
"I don't think we know the exact amount yet, but it is likely a large ask that is coming to the Barrie council. I am concerned about it. The city does not have room in its budget to make room for a major commitment to the hospital. That does not mean the city is without options, but there is only one taxpayer. Choices about how to pay for a commitment will need to be made, and they will not be easy choices. But there is clearly a need for the hospital to expand and the city's support will be important to that."
Mayor of Barrie | Jeff Lohman
Last summer, RVH officials announced plans to expand the existing Georgian Drive hospital in Barrie which is now referred to as the north campus. This would be a 10 year project and would also develop a new south campus in Innisfil to meet local demands and ongoing population growth.
The south campus would be built on 83 acres at the southwest corner of Yonge Street and Innisfil Beach Road.
The city of Barrie has paid for health-care facilities in the past. The city contributed $24.3 million to the original construction of RVH, between 1989 and 1994, as well as $52.5 million for an expanded RVH between 2009 and 2013.
Mayor Lehman states that the city has time for this major expense to be paid. While the expansion is needed in the coming years, the capital plans RVH presented represent decades of growth. He expects an ask of the city to come with recognition that it would be paid over a long period of time, which may make the ask more manageable.
According to Janice Skot, RVH's president and chief executive officer, the urgency to expand is due to population growth. The population of south Simcoe County will continue to explode over the next two decades. It will double. She expects that over the next 30 years, more than 200,000 new residents will move to south Simcoe and most of that growth will be in Barrie.
The city's Official Plan says Barrie's population will double to 298,000 by 2051.
CTV News Barrie reports that out of the $3 billion expenditure, $2.3 billion would be spent on the Georgian campus and roughly $700 million on the south campus.
The Barrie campus will feature a new tower increasing bed capacity and new state-of-the-art operating rooms. The new hospital being built in Innisfil will focus on outpatient care to start before being a fully equipped hospital with a full-time emergency room within 20 years.
"We have some shelved spaces in our current expansion that we opened in 2012, so we are just making sure that we fill in those spaces. For example, there's a whole unit of shelved space and we have submitted a document to the government asking for a new 15-bed critical care unit that should almost double the size of our critical care."
Mayor of Barrie | Jeff Lehman
An article in Ontario Construction News states that the hospital will get new 800,000 square foot, nine-storey tower that will be built on the same site and would include:
- Additional beds
- Additional surgical areas
- Five new operating rooms
- Expanded emergency department
- Auditorium for teaching
Construction will happen concurrently at the south campus which will be built in three phases. The first phase will create space for clinics and services that complement the hospital in Barrie. Twenty years after construction begins, the Innisfil location will be a stand-alone acute care hospital with 24/7 emergency service available.
The required Stage 1 plan will be submitted to the province later this month and hospital president Janice Skot said she is optimistic that approval will be granted within a year.
At the North campus, the plan will double the size of the current facility for the second time since the facility opened and will add a second 23-bed critical care unit and a third MRI.
According to Barrie Today, the south campus in Innisfil is expected to be implemented in a phased manner, starting with ambulatory and urgent care services, so that patients will have access to outpatient services closer to home, including:
- Day surgeries
- Minor medical procedures
- Treatments and diagnostic tests
The new south campus health club hub will also free up capacity and reduce wait-times at the north campus emergency department in Barrie.
Currently, RVH has 390 beds at its Georgian Drive location. As part of its $3 billion expansion plans, that will grow to 478 beds in five years and 611 beds in a decade. There will be 915 beds between both campuses in 20 years.
The south campus would be built in three phases which would include the following:
- Phase One - The health hub would have ambulatory care, outpatient clinics and an urgent care centre
- Phase Two - Add post-acute care
- Phase Three - Full-service hospital with in-patient units, surgical suites and a 24/7 emergency department
Earlier this year, Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, Steve Clark, granted to the Town of Innisfil a request for a minister's zoning order (MZO) to accelerate the development of the new south campus project.
