A new state-of-the-art 22 storey hospital in Mississauga is planned and will feature one of Ontario's largest emergency departments anywhere in Canada. Plans are also in the works for an expansion of another hospital in Toronto. Both facilities are part of Trillium Health Partners. This is part of a pre-pandemic pledge to end "hallway medicine" that has gained new urgency due to COVID-19.
City News Everywhere reports that this week's announcement by Premier Doug Ford is part of a plan to spend $30 billion over 10 years on increasing hospital capacity. The provincial government is pledging to add more than 600 new hospital beds and expand services to not only improve access to care, but to reduce wait times for patients in Peel Region, Etobicoke and any surrounding communities.
Premier Doug Ford stated that this pandemic has reminded all of us of the importance of having ready access to hospital beds when they are needed the most. Both the Mississauga and Queensway hospitals will receive more than $27 million in extra operation funding this fiscal year.
An article in Toronto CTV News states that demand for health care at Trillium Health Partners is expected to expand to seven times more than that of an average Ontario hospital over the next 20 years due to Peel Region's booming population.
Since plans for the new 950 bed healthcare facility are in the early stages, the timeline for construction is still not known. The second expansion within the Trillium Health network will be at its Etobicoke ambulatory-care site, which will receive 350 new beds.
Insauga.com reports that it could take several years to determine the exact cost of the hospital and the City of Mississauga's contribution to the project according to Mayor Bonnie Crombie. She states that the estimates have not yet been calculated and that with a project of this scale, size and scope, it will probably take a few years to know precisely what the specs will be.
Major and long overdue expansion plans have been in the works at Mississauga Hospital for some time now but the unveiling of Ontario's investment by Ford has significantly moved things along for THP officials.
The Pointer states that despite having the worst hospital healthcare crisis and per-capita bed count in Ontario, Brampton will only get about one third the investment in healthcare that the provider managing Mississauga's hospitals is set to receive.
The Hurontario Street and Queensway building will be brand new and will include:
- More than 950 hospital beds
- One of Ontario's largest emergency departments
- New surgical platforms
- Increase operating rooms from 14 to 23
- New advanced diagnostic and imaging capacity
- Additional pharmacy and clinical lab space
- Large parking structure will also be built
The Etobicoke facility in southwest Toronto will not convert Queensway Health Centre (which is entirely separate from Mississauga Hospital at the other end of the Queensway) to an actual hospital but with the addition of more beds to provide complex continuing care and a range of rehabilitation, it will create increased capacity for acute care at both of the Mississauga hospitals Trillium operates (Credit Valley is the city's other full-service hospital).
Ontario News reports that 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, bringing the total additional investment in hospitals since the start of the pandemic to over $5.1 billion. 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.
To support growing demands on the health care system, Ontario is investing $30.2 billion over the next 10 years in infrastructure to address longstanding challenges around hospital bed shortages in the hospital sector. These investments will provide:
- Increased capacity in hospitals
- Build new health care facilities
- Renew existing hospital and community health centres
Trillium Health Partners is one of the largest community hospital systems in Canada, serving over 1.7 million patients annually in Mississauga, West Toronto and surrounding communities across its three sites: Credit Valley Hospital, the Mississauga Hospital and the Queensway Health Centre.
