New Health-Care Complex (Contact / Media Information )
New Health Complex Update
July 2011
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In recent years, there have been many significant investments across Niagara Health System sites in new diagnostic equipment, including CTs, MRIs and Ultrasounds; two new Breast Screening Program clinics; two new Emergency Departments; two new Ambulatory Care Centres; a new Dialysis Unit and plans for another unit in Niagara Falls, as part of a full redevelopment of the site.
It's Our Time to Celebrate Again, Niagara, now that a major milestone has been achieved for the Niagara Health System's new health-care complex. With financing finalized to design, build, finance and maintain the new facility, full construction is scheduled to begin next month and be completed in 2012.
Here's what the new 970,000-square-foot health-care complex means for Niagarans and for healthcare across our region:
New regional programs that have never been available in Niagara:
Walker Family Cancer Centre
- Comprehensive cancer care developed in collaboration with Cancer Care Ontario and the Juravinski Cancer Centre, Hamilton
- Close to home treatment for 1,200 cancer patients who currently travel to Hamilton or Toronto for life-saving radiation treatment
- Approximately 67,000 sq.ft.
- Four radiation bunkers, special procedure rooms and chemotherapy treatment, with room to expand
Cardiac Catheterization Services at the Heart Investigation Unit
- Cardiac Catheterization services in partnership with Hamilton Health Sciences resulting in reduced wait times and improved access to services
Longer Term Mental Health Services
- Beds and regional services to support patients with longer term mental health requirements
- Service developed in partnership with St. Joseph’s Hospital, Hamilton
ContInued Development of Regional Dialysis Services
- Hub of regional dialysis services, supported by the permanent dialysis unit recently constructed in Welland and the one being planned for in Niagara Falls
Replacement facility for the aging St. Catharines General and Ontario Street sites
- Acute-care site with 375 beds
- Serving residents of St. Catharines, Thorold, Niagara-on-the-Lake and surrounding communities
- Acute and critical inpatient services, surgical, emergency and ambulatory services under one roof
Important Design Features
- 80 per cent of rooms are single patient rooms to better respond to infectious diseases, improve patient outcomes and increase privacy for patients and their families
- Zones that can be isolated in the event of a crisis or infectious outbreak
- State-of-the-art operating suites designed to take advantage of sophisticated image-guided and laparoscopic surgery
- The building will feature an environmentally friendly design, resulting in LEED® certification as part of the government’s commitment to reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.
Jobs and economic boost
- Construction of the new health-care complex will provide a sizeable boost to the regional and Ontario economies by directly and indirectly supporting and creating approximately 5,400 jobs, many of which will be in the Niagara region
- At the peak of construction, there will be 1,000 workers on the site each day
- Skilled trades, subcontractors and suppliers from across the region will benefit from the construction project
- Approximately 200 new health-care jobs will be created once the facility opens to support new regional services in cancer, cardiac and mental health
Cost and local share
- The hospital cost in today’s dollars is $759 million.
- Under the alternative financing and procurement model, Plenary Health Niagara will receive annual payments from Niagara Health System over a 30-year period.
- Payments cover construction, building maintenance, lifecycle repair and renewal and project financing. Lifecycle refers to ensuring that heating and cooling systems, windows, floors and roofing structures, for example, are kept in excellent working condition over the 30-year period.
- Payments are like a fixed-rate mortgage with maintenance and repair expenses included and will total approximately $1.42 billion after 30 years.
- Local share plan for Niagara of $116.9 million remains as follows:
- Fundraising - $25 million (of the $40 million It’s Our Time Campaign) - Retail/commercial opportunities and other funding sources - $27.1 million
- Regional/Municipal tax levies - $60 million
- Other grants/funding sources - $4.8 million
- As committed by the NHS, tax levy commitments totalling $60 million to support the local share remain unchanged at the approved amounts negotiated in 2007.
- Region of Niagara ($21 million)
- City of St. Catharines ($31.2 million)
- City of Thorold ($4.3 million)
- Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake ($3.5 million)
The new health-care complex will have a profound and long-lasting impact on the advancement of medical care for the people of Niagara as well as on the abilities of our health-care practitioners to serve patients and families for generations to come. Thank you to the Province of Ontario, the Regional Municipality of Niagara, the City of St. Catharines, the City of Thorold, the Town of Niagara-on-the-Lake, the It’s Our Time Campaign fundraisers and donors, local hospital foundations, our health-care providers, and the thousands of people who have played a role in achieving this milestone for Niagara.