The Hub August 2015 | Page 18

Hospital News In mid-July, Windsor health care officials unveiled the long-awaited blueprint for the region’s new state-of-the-art hospital, and revealed more details about its anticipated integration and co-ordination with existing healthcare sites. A new 10-storey, 500 bed hospital will be built on the edge of the city, occupying a 24-hectare piece of land near County Road 42 and Concession Road 9. The land, purchased from the O’Keefe family, came at a price of $6.1 million. The new mega-hospital will serve as the area’s acute care centre, meeting complex regional trauma and emergency needs, as well as fcardiac and cancer care. Critical care, neurosurgery, neonatal intensive care, obstetrics and paediatrics will also be offered there, along with in-patient medical and surgical units and acute specialty clinics. The site will also include a helipad, something previously unavailable at any Windsor hospital. The plan also includes changes to two existing sites in Windsor and the redevelopment of the former Grace Hospital site on Crawford Avenue in Windsor. The vacant Grace site, currently owned by the city, will be home to the construction of a four-storey urgent care site operated by Windsor Regional Hospital. The urgent care centre will be open a minimum of 18 hour a day to patients with non-life-threatening emergencies. It will be staffed with emergency room doctors and nurses, and will not accept patients arriving by ambulance. If necessary, patients can be transferred to the new mega-site. The City of Windsor will swap the Grace land in exchange for the current Metropolitan campus on Lens Avenue. Once the new hospital on County Road 42 is built, the Met building will close and be torn down, and the City will take possession. It is expected that the Ouellette campus, still recognized locally as “Hotel Dieu” will once again be run by Hotel-Dieu Grace Healthcare (HDGH)and redeveloped to support outpatient mental-health services. The Taylor Campus in West Windsor will remain under the operation of HDGH and provide complex continuing ca