Land Proposals Sought for New Joint Hospital in Kitchener-Waterloo

Grand River Hospital, St. Mary's General Hospital looking for future home of shared hospital

KITCHENER, ON, Oct. 5, 2023 /CNW/ - Grand River Hospital and St. Mary's General Hospital are taking an important step forward in the process to find a location for a new joint hospital in Kitchener-Waterloo.

The hospitals are asking interested property owners to submit properties for consideration for a future hospital through a formal Call for Land Proposals process.

The proposals will be evaluated against the recently approved site selection criteria developed through extensive engagement with our communities, but also following Ministry of Health guidance to look for large parcels of land that will allow the hospital to grow and redevelop on the same site in the future.

The Site Selection Panel leading the work to identify a preferred site for the new hospital carried out public consultation throughout the summer to develop the criteria, gathering input from hospital teams, partners, municipalities, subject matter experts, and the broader community on what's important to consider when identifying a site for a future hospital.

Community members provided input through more than 30 interviews and focus groups, an online survey that received more than 11,000 responses, written feedback from the region and municipalities, hundreds of social media comments and direct emails. The Panel considered all the feedback when developing the criteria which covered a wide range of topics, from accessibility and site features to geographic location and the impact of future population growth.

Interested property owners have until November 2 to complete the Mandatory Stage 1 Proposal Submission Requirements to provide basic information about their property, including its size, location, and characteristics through the Call for Land Proposals.

Interested property owners are encouraged to carefully review the final site selection criteria and Call for Proposals before submitting their proposals.

The new hospital is a key piece of a broader proposal before the Ministry of Health to modernize and expand infrastructure and services to support a growing number of patients and their families in Waterloo Region and beyond.

In addition to a new hospital, St. Mary's General Hospital and Grand River Hospital are also proposing to renew and repurpose two existing hospital sites:

• The midtown Kitchener-Waterloo Campus would be transformed into an ambulatory and urgent care centre; and
• The Freeport Campus in Kitchener would be modernized and expanded to increase our rehabilitation capacity.

All three sites would be shared by both Grand River Hospital and St. Mary's General Hospital.

This site selection process for the new hospital is being overseen by the BFCT Committee, a subcommittee of the hospitals' boards comprised of members with broad representation across both hospitals and the Waterloo Region community. The BFCT Committee reports into Grand River Hospital's Board of Directors and St. Mary's General Hospital's Board of Trustees, both of which include members who are dedicated community residents. The BFCT Committee also reports into St. Joseph's Health System.

Stay Connected

Updates on the site selection process and opportunities to provide feedback can be found on the Building the Future of Care Together website: futureofcaretogether.ca. Comments and questions can be sent to [email protected].

SOURCE Grand River Hospital

Media Contacts: Grand River Hospital, Victoria Ott, Director of Strategy, Identity and Communications, 519-588-4687, Email: [email protected]; St. Mary's General Hospital, Dayna Giorgio, Manager, Communications, 519-895-6540, Email [email protected]