SUNNYBROOK HEALTH SCIENCES CENTRE WELCOMES THE WOMEN & BABIES PROGRAM

TORONTO, Sept. 2 /CNW/ -- Deb Matthews, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, and Kathleen Wynne, MPP for Don Valley West, joined Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre today to celebrate the completion of the M-Wing Shell and the Women and Babies project.

The redevelopment project created new space for Sunnybrook's Women & Babies Program, including a state-of-the-art Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, integrating these services into the hospital's critical care system.

The newly developed hospital wing includes:

• more than 120,000 square feet of new space above the existing clinical services wing
• space for the Women and Babies Program, which will provide capacity for 68 beds and 48 bassinets to manage 4,250 births per year.

Construction of the project began in May 2007 and was completed in summer 2010, on time and on budget. Vanbots Construction Corporation was responsible for building and financing the project.

On September 12, 2010, the Women & Babies Program will move from its current location at Women's College Hospital, to the brand new facility at Sunnybrook's Bayview Avenue site. The new program will be able to deliver babies on the Bayview Campus shortly after 8 a.m. on Sunday, September 12, 2010.

Infrastructure Ontario worked with Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre to redevelop the hospital, which will remain publicly owned, publicly controlled and publicly accountable.  Infrastructure Ontario is a Crown corporation dedicated to managing some of the province's larger and more complex infrastructure renewal projects - ensuring they are built on time and on budget.  

Visit www.infrastructureontario.ca for more information about this project.

Quotes:

"I'm truly excited to see the completion of this very special project at Sunnybrook. This redevelopment will support the needs of the renowned and highly specialized Women and Babies Program and most importantly the mothers and newborns they care for."
- Minister Matthews

"This new space at Sunnybrook is so important because it will support some of the province's most critically-ill newborns and high-risk pregnancies in a state-of-the-art facility."
- Minister Wynne 

"On behalf of our staff and the thousands of patients and families who will benefit from this tremendous facility, I would like to thank the Ontario government for this significant investment in the future health of some of our province's youngest and most fragile patients. Your investment here is bringing new life into Ontario," said Dr. Barry McLellan, President and CEO, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.

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Backgrounder

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre is inventing the future of health care for the 1 million patients the hospital cares for each year through the dedication of its more than 10,000 staff, physicians and volunteers. An internationally recognized leader in research and education and a full affiliation with the University of Toronto distinguishes Sunnybrook as one of Canada's premier academic health sciences centres. Sunnybrook specializes in caring for Canada's war veterans, high-risk pregnancies, critically-ill newborns, adults and the elderly.  Sunnybrook also specializes in treating and preventing cancer, cardiovascular disease, neuroscience disorders, orthopaedic and arthritic conditions and traumatic injuries.

Sunnybrook operates approximately 1,275 inpatient beds, which includes 533 veteran beds and 74 bassinets.

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, M-Wing Shell and Women and Babies Project

The Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre M-Wing expansion project has created four additional floors above the existing clinical services wing. Two of the floors will be the new home of Sunnybrook's Women and Babies Program, including a state-of-the-art Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. For approximately 4,250 births per year, the new floors will provide:

• 68 beds for Labour, Delivery and Post-Partum Care and High Risk Pregnancies
• 48 bassinets for critically-ill newborns

The project will expand Sunnybrook's capacity to provide care for some of the most critically-ill newborns and high-risk pregnancies in the province by integrating these services into the hospital's critical care system. The Women and Babies program currently handles around 4,000 births a year, about 25 per cent of which are high-risk pregnancies. The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit cares for one in five of all babies born in Ontario weighing less than three pounds.

For further information:

MairiAnna Bachynsky
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
416.480.6100 x 4349

Jennifer Sclisizzi
Infrastructure Ontario
416-325-7409